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    Anthropogenic disturbance and evolutionary parameters: A lemon shark population experiencing habitat loss

    Access Status
    Open access via publisher
    Authors
    Di Battista, Joseph
    Feldheim, K.
    Garant, D.
    Gruber, S.
    Hendry, A.
    Date
    2011
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Di Battista, J. and Feldheim, K. and Garant, D. and Gruber, S. and Hendry, A. 2011. Anthropogenic disturbance and evolutionary parameters: A lemon shark population experiencing habitat loss. Evolutionary Applications. 4 (1): pp. 1-17.
    Source Title
    Evolutionary Applications
    DOI
    10.1111/j.1752-4571.2010.00125.x
    ISSN
    1752-4563
    School
    Department of Environment and Agriculture
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50140
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    The level of genetic variation in natural populations influences evolutionary potential, and may therefore influence responses to selection in the face of future environmental changes. By combining long-term monitoring of marked individuals with genetic pedigree reconstruction, we assessed whether habitat loss influenced genetic variation in a lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) population at an isolated nursery lagoon (Bimini, Bahamas). We also tracked changes in the strength and direction of natural selection. Contrary to initial expectations, we found that after the habitat loss neutral genetic variation increased, as did additive genetic variance for juvenile morphological traits (body length and mass). We hypothesize that these effects might result from philopatric behavior in females coupled with a possible influx of male genotypes from other nursery sites. We also found changes in the strength of selection on morphological traits, which weakened considerably after the disturbance; habitat loss therefore changed the phenotypes favored by natural selection. Because such human-induced shifts in the adaptive landscape may be common, we suggest that conservation biologists should not simply focus on neutral genetic variation per se, but also on assessing and preserving evolutionary parameters, such as additive genetic variation and selection. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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