Mechanisms of Evolution
Mechanisms of Evolution
Mechanisms of Evolution
Mechanisms of Evolution
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Keywords
evolution, population, gene flow, genetic drift, adaptation, natural
selection, phenotypes, behavior, predation, selective agent, heterozygous,
homozygous, heritability, dispersal, genotype, gene flow, genetic isola-
tion, genetic distance, non-adaptive evolution, population bottleneck,
inbreeding
Contents
Preface...................................................................................................ix
Acknowledgments....................................................................................xi
Introduction.........................................................................................xiii
Chapter 1 Selection Acts on Individuals with Variable
Characteristics....................................................................1
Selection can Act on Behaviors...........................................1
Natural Selection on a Discrete Trait..................................6
Chapter 2 Species May Evolve in Response to Climate Change........11
Range Expansion.............................................................12
Evolutionary Response to Changing Rainfall...................14
Ethical, Legal, Social Implications: Data are
Needed to Formulate Policy, but Science is
Often Misused in the Process........................................17
Chapter 3 Two Seemingly Isolated Populations may not
Actually be Isolated..........................................................23
Some Populations Have Limited Dispersal.......................23
Dispersal Links Geographic and Genetic Distance...........27
Chapter 4 Populations can Evolve in the Absence of
Natural Selection..............................................................33
Population Isolation Affects Genetic Diversity.................33
A Population Bottleneck Reduces Genetic Diversity.........37
Conclusion............................................................................................41
Glossary................................................................................................43
Index....................................................................................................45
Preface
This book about mechanisms of evolution is part of a thirty book se-
ries that collectively surveys all of the major themes in biology. Rather
than just present information as a collection of facts, the reader is treated
more like a scientist, which means the data behind the major themes are
presented. Reading any of the thirty books by Paradise and Campbell
provides readers with biological context and comprehensive perspective
so that readers can learn important information from a single book with
the potential to see how the major themes span all size scales: molecular,
cellular, organismal, population and ecologic systems. The major themes
of biology encapsulate the entire discipline: information, evolution, cells,
homeostasis and emergent properties.
In the twentieth century, biology was taught with a heavy emphasis
on long lists of terms and many specific details. All of these details were
presented in a way that obscured a more comprehensive understanding.
In this book, readers will learn about mechanisms of evolution and some
of the supporting evidence behind our understanding. The historic and
more recent experiments and data will be explored. Instead of believing
or simply accepting information, readers of this book will learn about the
science behind the mechanisms of evolution the way professional scien-
tists dowith experimentation and data analysis. In short, data are put
back into the teaching of biological sciences.
Readers of this book who wish to see the textbook version of this
content can go to www.bio.davidson.edu/icb where they will find
pedagogically-designed and interactive Integrating Concepts in Biology
for introductory biology college courses or a high school AP Biology
course.
Acknowledgments
Publishing this book would not have been possible without the generous
gift of Dr. David Botstein who shared some of his Breakthrough Prize
with co-author AMC. Davids gift allowed us to hire talented artists (Tom
Webster and his staff at Lineworks, Inc.) and copyeditor Laura Loveall.
Thanks go to Kristen Mandava of Mandava Editorial Services for project
management and guidance. In particular, we are indebted to Katie Noble
and Melissa Hayban for their many hours and attention to detail.
Kristen Eshleman, Paul Brantley, Bill Hatfield and Olivia Booker
helped us with technology at Davidson College. We are grateful to ad-
ministrators Tom Ross, Clark Ross, Carol Quillen, Wendy Raymond,
Verna Case, and Barbara Lom who had confidence in us and encouraged
us to persist despite setbacks along the way.
Thanks to my wife Amy Brooks for her constant support during the
development of this textbook, and my daughter Evelyn for her endless
energy. Thanks to Malcolm Campbell for his steadfast resolve and opti-
mism. Without him, this book would not exist. Thanks to collaborator
Laurie Heyer for taking my sometimes half-baked math ideas and turn-
ing them into powerful and elegant Bio-Math Explorations. I learned a
lot from both of them. While the math is largely absent from this
book, our collaboration with her made this a better book. Nancy Stamp
at Binghamton University, and Bill Dunson and Richard Cyr at The
Pennsylvania State University influenced me greatly in how I think as
a scientist and approach my teaching. Finally, I thank my students in
Integrated Concepts in Biology II, who enthusiastically participated in
our experiment to redesign introductory biology, starting with the text
and ending with a new approach to teaching biology.
Introduction
Although the unit of study in evolution is most often the population,
evolution can be and is studied at the levels of the molecule, cell, and
organism. In this book, evolution will be studied at the level of the in-
dividual organism and the population, that is all the individuals of the
same species living in the same place at the same time, by examining how
natural selection acts on individuals that possess certain traits, the evolu-
tionary consequences of rapid environmental changes, and the evolution-
ary consequences of gene flow and genetic drift, which are all manifested
at the population level. The main themes of the evolution will be evident
throughout the book. For instance, natural selection is the mechanism
that accounts for adaptation to the selective pressures of interacting spe-
cies. Life continues to evolve as the environment changes, and humans
are a major contributor to changes in our 21st century environment.
CHAPTER 1
Selection Acts on
Individuals with Variable
Characteristics
80
= 36 hour survival
60 = 60 hour survival
percent survival
40
20
0
timid ordinary bold
type of guppy
Figure 1 Total survival (pooled for all ten trials) of guppies with
different behavioral tendencies to inspect potential predators. Survival
was measured at two time points during the experiment.
Source: Data from Dugatkin 1992 in text.
Selection Acts on Individuals with Variable Characteristics 3
flee from predators before the predator gets too close. This may enhance
their survival, and may be something they were unable to do in the first
experiment, where survival of bold guppies was zero. The variation in be-
havioral tendencies is associated with variation in appearance, as colorful
males were generally bolder, especially in the presence of females. Drab
males spent less time inspecting predators, because they spent more time
near females when females were present. However, in choice tests, fe-
males preferred to mate with bold males when a predator was nearby and
bright males when predators were absent. Inspection behavior was not an
issue when there was no predator nearby, but because of the correlation
between brightness and boldness, females may be able to assess male bold-
ness by examination of their color alone.
In Dugatkins first experiment, bold males were selected againstthat
is, their survival was very low because of their tendency to inspect preda-
tors. A scientist may wonder then how individuals with that behavior
remained in the population, or why the population did not consist of all
timid males. Because boldness is preferred by females that counters preda-
tion selection against the boldness.
In addition, variation in color pattern, which is associated with be-
havior, is used by females as a signal for potential boldness when they
cannot actually observe how a male would behave if there were a predator
present. Bold males inspect more often, which may signal to the predator
that it has been spotted, and this behavior allows bold individuals to flee
an approaching predator earlier than a timid individual. Females may
prefer these types of males because bright color indicates their boldness,
and boldness is related to their ability to detect predators. Bold behavior
may be associated with other aspects of success, such as higher rates of
feeding. The value of this to the female is that bold, healthy males may
contribute more advantageous genes to the females offspring. Phenotypes
that remain in a population are maintained by providing an advantage to
the possessor, whereas phenotypes selected against reduce the ability to
survive or reproduce.
If boldness and brightness are then favored in the environment, why
are there any timid, drab males left in the population? Even though fe-
males prefer bold, bright males, timid males are still able to mate, which
helps explain why this characteristic remains. Dugatkin and Godin found
6 MECHANISMS OF EVOLUTION
that the correlation between brightness and boldness was not perfect; not
all bold males were brightly colored. Multiple genes may code for proteins
involved in those characteristics, and the environment in which a guppy
develops may also contribute to that variation. Natural selection is not
perfect, and there are many factors that affect the success or failure of any
one individual. Timid males may have higher survival than bold males
under some conditions. If all timid, drab males were eliminated from the
guppy population, the remaining population of bright, bold males will be
less variable, and this may have negative consequences in an environment
with a high abundance of predators. Such a population of bold and bright
guppies could be selected against and face extinction.
many annual censuses, and what they found was that the proportion of
white flowers was consistently at or close to 0 on the west side of the
ravine and consistently at or close to 1.0 on the east side of the ravine.
The researchers hypothesized that there was intense local selection for
flower color, such that blue flowers were favored on the west side of the
ravine and white on the east. To support this hypothesis, the researchers
tested four other genes, predicting that other genetic loci would show
no pattern across the ravine if selection were only on flower color. To
determine the frequencies of alleles of the four genetic loci, the scientists
collected individual desert snow plants across the ravine. They extracted
enzymes and separated allozymes, variants of an enzyme, for the four
genes using electrophoresis. Electrophoresis is the process in which large
molecules can be separated according to size and electrical charge by ap-
plying an electric current to them in a gel. The scientists found exactly
what they predicted; the other genes that do not influence flower color
were not selected for or against.
The scientists also planted both white and blue flowered plants in
plots on both sides of the ravine to determine their seed production suc-
cess in the two habitats. Note that 1995 was wetter than average, and
1996 was drier than average. In 1995, there was no difference in seed
production between blue and white plants on the west side but on the
east side, where white flowers historically dominated, seed production in
white flowers was significantly greater, by about 30%, than seed produc-
tion of blue plants. The trend was reversed in 1996, the drier than aver-
age year, where blue plants produced significantly more seeds than white
plants on the west side, but both white and blue plants produced equal
numbers of seeds, on average, on the east side.
Finally, Schemske and Bierzychudek collected data on environmental
factors on the two sides of the ravine to determine what selective factors
there might be in the two habitats. They looked at the other plants in the
community, which are potential competitors, as well as soil properties.
Nine out of ten plant species had differences in area covered on the west
side versus the east side, with six covering more area on the west side than
the east, and three covering more area on the east side than the west. The
researchers also found significant differences in soil chemistry, with five
out of ten variables being different on one side than the other.
8 MECHANISMS OF EVOLUTION
unmeasured factor could have then given rise to variation in plant com-
munity composition. Either of these factors, soil or the other species of
plants present on either side of the ravine, could be the source of selection
for flower color on the two sides of the ravine, although Schemske and
Bierzychudek did not test individual factors in the soil or in the plant
community. However, Schemske and Bierzychudek showed that ecologi-
cal factors can and do vary, and this variation leads to natural selection
on a local scale over short periods of time. Natural selection can eliminate
certain characteristics from a population, thereby reducing variation. But
natural selection can also maintain variable characteristics by favoring
certain types in different local habitats. Variation among individuals in a
population can also lead to descent with modification over much longer
periods of time.
Bibliography
Dugatkin LA: Tendency to inspect predators predicts mortality risk in the
guppy (Poecilia reticulata), Behav Ecol 3:124127, 1992.
Godin J-GJ, Davis SA: Who dares, benefits: predator approach behaviour
in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) deters predator pursuit, P Roy Soc
Lond B Bio 259(1355): 193200 1995.
Godin J-GJ, Dugatkin LA: Female mating preference for bold males
in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93(19):
1026210267, 1996. Available online: http://www.jstor.org/stable/
40373.
Schemske DW, Bierzychudek P: Spatial differentiation for flower color
in the desert annual Linanthus parryae: was Wright right? Evolution
61(11):25282543, 2007.
Index
Allozymes, 7 DNA, 28
Alpine willowherb, 3437 Dominant allele, 6
Altered land use, 11 Dugatkin, Lee, 15
Bees, 25 Electrophoresis, 7
median flight distance, 2627 Environmental Protection
Behavior, selection acting on, 16 Agency, 18
Bierzychudek, Paulette, 69 Epilobium fleischeri. See Alpine
Black grouse, 3740 willowherb
Bladder campion European starlings, 3031
allele combinations of, 28 Evolution
genetic distance and geographic non-adaptive, 33
distance, 2830 of population, 3340
widespread dispersal of, 30 range expansion, 1213
Brassica rapa. See Wild mustard response to rainfall, 1417
Bush cricket, 1213 of species. See Species evolution,
Business-as-usual policy, 19 in response to climate
Butterflies, 25 change
median flight distance, 2627 Executive Orders, 18
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