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DESICCATION AND STARVATION TOLERANCE OF ADULT DROSOPHILA : OPPOSITE LATITUDINAL CLINES IN NATURAL POPULATIONS OF THREE DIFFERENT SPECIES
Author(s) -
Karan Dev,
Dahiya Neena,
Munjal Ashok K.,
Gibert Patricia,
Moreteau Brigitte,
Parkash Ravi,
David Jean R.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1998.tb03706.x
Subject(s) - biology , desiccation , starvation , natural selection , desiccation tolerance , drosophila (subgenus) , adaptation (eye) , ecology , latitude , zoology , selection (genetic algorithm) , genetics , gene , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , geodesy , geography , computer science , endocrinology
Desiccation and starvation tolerance were measured along latitudinal transects in three Drosophilid species ( Drosophila ananassae, D. melanogaster , and Zaprionus indianus ) of the Indian subcontinent. In each case, significant latitudinal clines were observed; desiccation tolerance increased with latitude while starvation tolerance decreased. Such field observations suggest that desiccation and starvation tolerance are fitness related traits that are independently selected in nature and genetically independent. It was, however, difficult to relate these genetic changes with precise climatic variables, except winter temperature. The overall negative correlation between the two traits, which was evidenced in natural populations, contrasts with a positive correlation generally observed in various laboratory selection experiments and that also seems to exist between different species. These observations point to the difficulty of interpreting correlations among fitness‐related traits when different evolutionary levels are compared, and also different sets of data, that is, field versus laboratory studies.