BIOL 5240 Fall 2005
Ecological Genetics
11/11/05
Study Questions:
Laurila, A., S. Karttunen, and J.
Merila. 2002. Adaptive phenotypic plasticity and genetics of
larval life histories in two Rana temporaria populations. Evolution 56(3):617-627.
We haven’t talked yet about genetic correlations among
traits, so don’t worry about that aspect of the paper (Table 4).
Quick Quiz
Questions:
- Based
on what you know about basic genetics, how is it possible that
“plasticity” can have a genetic basis?
Why isn’t plasticity just an environmental effect?
- On the
top of page 618, column 1, second full sentence, the authors state:
“Furthermore, in many within-population vertebrate studies conducted so
far, the genetic estimates of plasticity have been potentially distorted
by the use of full-sibling analyses, which tend to overestimate the amount
of additive genetic variation.”
Explain to me what are they talking about here in terms of
heritability?
- Why did
the authors hypothesize that the two focal populations should differ in
plasticity for the traits that they studied? Were their hypotheses supported?
- What
does each of the following main effects in the ANOVA mean? For example, if they were significant,
what would you conclude?
·
Population
·
Treatment
·
Sire
·
Dam
- What
does each of these interactions in the ANOVA mean? For example, if it were statistically
significant, what would you conclude?
·
Population x treatment
·
Sire x treatment
·
Dam x treatment
- Is it
likely that adaptive phenotypic plasticity will continue to evolve in
these populations? Why or why not?