Heritability of short‐scale natal dispersal in a large‐scale foraging bird, the wandering albatross

Abstract

Natal dispersal is a key life history trait for the evolution and adaptation of wild populations. Although its evolution has repeatedly been related to the social and environmental context faced by individuals, parent–offspring regressions have also highlighted a possible heritable component. In this study, we explore heritability of natal dispersal, at the scale of the sub‐Antarctic Possession Island, for a large‐scale foraging seabird, the Wandering albatross Diomedea exulans, exploiting a pedigree spanning over four decades and a maximum of four generations. The comparison of three different methods shows that heritability on the liability scale can vary drastically depending on the type of model (heritability from 6% to 86%), with a notable underestimation by restricted maximum likelihood animal models (6%) compared to Bayesian animal models (36%). In all cases, however, our results point to significant additive genetic variance in the individual propensity to disperse, after controlling for substantial effects of sex and natal colony. These results reveal promising evolutionary potential for short‐scale natal dispersal, which could play a critical role for the long‐term persistence of this species on the long run.

Fine‐scale genetic correlates to condition and migration in a wild cervid

“…Fine‐scale natal dispersal has been shown to have a heritable basis in albatross (Charmantier et al. ), and genotype–phenotype associations are thought to be important next steps in migration studies (Liedvogel et al. ).…”

Post‐weaning parental care increases fitness but is not heritable in North American red squirrels

“…We used two of the three quantitative genetics models able to accommodate binary data (Charmantier et al .,) to estimate the additive genetic influences on bequeathal behaviour: Edwards’ equation (Edwards, ) and a Bayesian animal model analysis of our multigenerational pedigree (Hadfield, ). We did not use the third approach, an animal model based on penalized quasi‐likelihood, as numerous doubts have been raised regarding the performance of these types of models for binary data (Gilmour et al ., ; Bolker et al ., ; de Villemereuil et al ., ).…”

Genetic origins of social networks in rhesus macaques

“…). However, in order for sociality to evolve it must have a heritable, genetic, basis on which selection may act56. Yet, whether sociality demonstrates additive genetic variance, and which genes contribute to such variation, remains poorly understood.…”