In his introduction to this detailed survey of knowledge of insect societies, the author points out that research on insect sociology has proceeded in three phases, the natural history phase, the physiological phase and the population-biology phase. Advances in the first two phases have permitted embarkation in the third phase on a more rigorous theory of social evolution based on population genetics and writing this book, the author wished to relate the three phases of research on insects and to express insect sociology as population biology. A glossary of terms, a considerable bibliography and a general index are included. Other CABI sites 

The Insect Societies

The rate of adaptive evolution, the contribution of selection to genetic changes that increase mean fitness, is determined by the additive genetic variance in individual relative fitness. To date, there are few robust estimates of this parameter for natural populations, and it is therefore unclear whether adaptive evolution can play a meaningful role in short-term population dynamics. We developed and applied quantitative genetic methods to long-term datasets from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that, while estimates vary between populations, additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. We show that these rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and hence that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change. Description Rapid change Human impacts are leading to exceedingly rapid alteration of our world, from land conversion and habitat loss to climate change. Some have proposed that rapid adaptation could help some species persist in the face of these changes, but questions remain about whether adaptation could occur rapidly enough to make a difference. Bonnet et al. looked at additive genetic variance, which determines the contribution of selection to genetic change that increases fitness, in long-term data from 19 species and found it to be higher than expected—often substantially higher (see the Perspective by Walsh). These results suggest that many species may have some capacity to adapt to our changing world. —SNV Quantitative genetic methods looking at 19 wild bird and mammal populations suggests that adaptive evolution is currently common and rapid.

/pdf/genetic-variance-in-fitness-indicates-rapid-contemporary-1ycd5k6w.pdf

Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals

All organisms grow. Numerous growth functions have been applied to a wide taxonomic range of organisms, yet some of these models have poor fits to empirical data and lack of flexibility in capturing variation in growth rate. We propose a new VBGF framework that broadens the applicability and increases flexibility of fitting growth curves. This framework offers a curve-fitting procedure for five parameterisations of the VBGF: these allow for different body-size scaling exponents for anabolism (biosynthesis potential), besides the commonly assumed 2/3 power scaling, and allow for supra-exponential growth, which is at times observed. This procedure is applied to twelve species of diverse aquatic invertebrates, including both pelagic and benthic organisms. We reveal widespread variation in the body-size scaling of biosynthesis potential and consequently growth rate, ranging from isomorphic to supra-exponential growth. This curve-fitting methodology offers improved growth predictions and applies the VBGF to a wider range of taxa that exhibit variation in the scaling of biosynthesis potential. Applying this framework results in reliable growth predictions that are important for assessing individual growth, population production and ecosystem functioning, including in the assessment of sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture.

/pdf/a-new-framework-for-growth-curve-fitting-based-on-the-von-388o1nd9xc.pdf

A new framework for growth curve fitting based on the von Bertalanffy growth function

The evolution of cooperation has been a focus of interest for evolutionary biologists for over a hundred years (Darwin 1859; Kropotkin 1908; Williams 1966). While all forms of cooperation challenge the centrality of competition in the process of evolution, cooperative and eusocial breeding systems, where offspring produced by a small number of breeding individuals are reared by nonbreeding helpers or workers, raise some of the most fundamental questions about the level at which selection operates the measurement of....

Meerkats: Cooperative breeding in the Kalahari

Populations often contain discrete classes or morphs (e.g., sexual dimorphisms, wing dimorphisms, trophic dimorphisms) characterized by distinct patterns of trait expression. In quantitative genetic analyses, the different morphs can be considered as different environments within which traits are expressed. Genetic variances and covariances can then be estimated independently for each morph or in a combined analysis. In the latter case, morphs can be considered as separate environments in a bivariate analysis or entered as fixed effects in a univariate analysis. Although a common approach, we demonstrate that the latter produces downwardly biased estimates of additive genetic variance and heritability unless the quantitative genetic architecture of the traits concerned is perfectly correlated between the morphs. This result is derived for four widely used quantitative genetic variance partitioning methods. Given that theory predicts the evolution of genotype-by-environment (morph) interactions as a consequence of selection favoring different trait combinations in each morph, we argue that perfect correlations between the genetic architectures of the different morphs are unlikely. A sampling of the recent literature indicates that the majority of researchers studying traits expressed in different morphs recognize this and do estimate morph-specific quantitative genetic architecture. However, ca. 16% of the studies in our sample utilized only univariate, fixed-effects models. We caution against this approach and recommend that it be used only if supported by evidence that the genetic architectures of the different morphs do not differ.

/pdf/are-we-underestimating-the-genetic-variances-of-dimorphic-1vzvkpl51q.pdf

Are we underestimating the genetic variances of dimorphic traits

Individual variation in growth is high in cooperative breeders and may reflect plastic divergence in developmental trajectories leading to breeding vs. helping phenotypes. However, the relative importance of additive genetic variance and developmental plasticity in shaping growth trajectories is largely unknown in cooperative vertebrates. This study exploits weekly sequences of body mass from birth to adulthood to investigate sources of variance in, and covariance between, early and later growth in wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta), a cooperative mongoose. Our results indicate that (i) the correlation between early growth (prior to nutritional independence) and adult mass is positive but weak, and there are frequent changes (compensatory growth) in post-independence growth trajectories; (ii) among parameters describing growth trajectories, those describing growth rate (prior to and at nutritional independence) show undetectable heritability while associated size parameters (mass at nutritional independence and asymptotic mass) are moderately heritable (0.09 ≤ h(2) < 0.3); and (iii) additive genetic effects, rather than early environmental effects, mediate the covariance between early growth and adult mass. These results reveal that meerkat growth trajectories remain plastic throughout development, rather than showing early and irreversible divergence, and that the weak effects of early growth on adult mass, an important determinant of breeding success, are partly genetic. In contrast to most cooperative invertebrates, the acquisition of breeding status is often determined after sexual maturity and strongly impacted by chance in many cooperative vertebrates, who may therefore retain the ability to adjust their morphology to environmental changes and social opportunities arising throughout their development, rather than specializing early.

/pdf/additive-genetic-variance-and-developmental-plasticity-in-1ktu1i2ch5.pdf

Additive genetic variance and developmental plasticity in growth trajectories in a wild cooperative mammal

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Additive genetic variance and developmental plasticity in growth trajectories in a wild cooperative mammal