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Higher rates of sex evolve under K ‐selection
Author(s) -
Becks L.,
Agrawal A. F.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/jeb.12110
Subject(s) - biology , habitat , selection (genetic algorithm) , sexual selection , ecology , taxon , genetic algorithm , evolutionary biology , evolution of sexual reproduction , scale (ratio) , stability (learning theory) , ecological selection , parallel evolution , asexual reproduction , phylogenetics , genetics , gene , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science , machine learning
The geographical distribution of sexual and related asexual species has been suggested to correlate with habitat stability; sexual species tend to be in stable habitats ( K ‐selection), whereas related asexual taxa tend to be in unstable habitats ( r ‐selection). We test whether this broad‐scale pattern can be re‐created at a microevolutionary scale by experimentally evolving populations of facultatively sexual rotifers under different ecological conditions. Consistent with the pattern in nature, we find that the rate of sex evolves to lower levels in the r ‐selected than in K ‐selection environments. We consider several different explanations for these results.