Long-term stability of allozyme frequencies in a wood lemming, Myopus schisticolor, population with a biased sex ratio and density fluctuations

Vuorinen, Jukka; Eskelinen, Olavi

doi:10.1038/sj.hdy.6800639

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Other behavioural studies have demonstrated that arvicoline rodent dispersal often is negatively density dependent (Smith & Batzli, 2006;Pilot et al, 2010). Such dispersal results in a stable level of genetic variation throughout the cycle which is in agreement with empirical data collected in other species (Vuorinen & Eskelinen, 2005;Ehrich et al, 2009). On the other hand, Le Galliard et al…”

Section: (B) Prediction 2: Population Cycles Cause Temporal Fluctuatisupporting

confidence: 89%

Genetic perspectives on northern population cycles: bridging the gap between theory and empirical studies

Norén

Angerbjörn

2013

Biological Reviews

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Many key species in northern ecosystems are characterised by high-amplitude cyclic population demography. In 1924, Charles Elton described the ecology and evolution of cyclic populations in a classic paper and, since then, a major focus has been the underlying causes of population cycles. Elton hypothesised that fluctuations reduced population genetic variation and influenced the direction of selection pressures. In concordance with Elton, present theories concern the direct consequences of population cycles for genetic structure due to the processes of genetic drift and selection, but also include feedback models of genetic composition on population dynamics. Most of these theories gained mathematical support during the 1970s and onwards, but due to methodological drawbacks, difficulties in long-term sampling and a complex interplay between microevolutionary processes, clear empirical data allowing the testing of these predictions are still scarce. Current genetic tools allow for estimates of genetic variation and identification of adaptive genomic regions, making this an ideal time to revisit this subject. Herein, we attempt to contribute towards a consensus regarding the enigma described by Elton almost 90 years ago. We present nine predictions covering the direct and genetic feedback consequences of population cycles on genetic variation and population structure, and review the empirical evidence. Generally, empirical support for the predictions was low and scattered, with obvious gaps in the understanding of basic population processes. We conclude that genetic variation in northern cyclic populations generally is high and that the geographic distribution and amount of diversity are usually suggested to be determined by various forms of context- and density-dependent dispersal exceeding the impact of genetic drift. Furthermore, we found few clear signatures of selection determining genetic composition in cyclic populations. Dispersal is assumed to have a strong impact on genetic structuring and we suggest that the signatures of other microevolutionary processes such as genetic drift and selection are weaker and have been over-shadowed by density-dependent dispersal. We emphasise that basic biological and demographical questions still need to be answered and stress the importance of extensive sampling, appropriate choice of tools and the value of standardised protocols.

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Section: (B) Prediction 2: Population Cycles Cause Temporal Fluctuatisupporting

confidence: 89%

Genetic perspectives on northern population cycles: bridging the gap between theory and empirical studies

Norén

Angerbjörn

2013

Biological Reviews

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“…No finite population is genetically stable over time because of genetic drift. Shifts in gene frequencies are expected, particularly in organisms that have small or cyclically fluctuating populations (Vuorinen & Eskelinen 2005). The low value of Nef corresponded well with the small effective population size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…Small populations tend to fix an appreciable fraction of the genetic load via genetic drift, resulting in elevated levels of among-population inbreeding (Keller & Waller 2002). Density fluctuations in small mammals reduce the effective population size substantially, which is expected to lower genetic diversity and cause inbreeding (Vuorinen & Eskelinen 2005). Populations of T. triton are characterized by marked instability in population size, with density often varying fivefold or more from year to year (Zhang & Wang 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic diversity decreases as population density declines: Implications of temporal variation in mitochondrial haplotype frequencies in a natural population of Tscherskia triton

Xie

Zhang

2006

Integrative Zoology

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Although the spatial genetic differentiation that occurs in animal populations has been extensively studied, information on temporal variations in genetic structure and diversity is still lacking, especially for animals with oscillating populations. In the present study, we used the mtDNA D-loop sequence to assess the temporal genetic variation in samples from six successive years for the greater long-tailed hamster, Tscherskia triton. Sampling was carried out between 1998 and 2003 in cropland on the North China Plain, China. A total of 108 individuals were analyzed. The temporal samples showed a high level of genetic diversity. Substantial genetic changes in haplotype frequencies over time were detected for the hamster population. Random genetic drift and migration are likely to be the major factors responsible for the observed temporal pattern. The genetic diversity of the hamster population was higher in years with higher population density, and lower in years with lower population density. The result supports our hypothesis that genetic diversity decreases when population density declines in animals whose population oscillates greatly between years. The combined effects of inbreeding and genetic drift caused by reproduction, dispersal and population size might play important roles in the observed changes in genetic structure and diversity between years.

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“…All markers were highly polymorphic and allelic richness indicated similarly high level of genetic variation. Such maintenance of high genetic variation, despite great fluctuations in population density and thus possible threat of repetitive bottlenecks, has already been observed in yellow‐necked mouse (Gortat et al., ; Kozakiewicz et al., ; Rico et al., ) and in several vole species (e.g., Aars et al., ; Berthier et al., , ; Ehrich & Jorde, ; Ehrich et al., ; Gauffre, Estoup, Bretagnolle, & Cosson, ; Gauffre et al., ; Plante, Boag, & Bradley, ; Redeker et al., ; Rikalainen et al., ; Vuorinen & Eskelinen, ). The authors explained a minor impact of often dramatic decline in population size (up to 90% of population; Rikalainen et al., ) by constant and relatively large effective population size, intense migration negatively correlated with density, and the consequential accumulation of new alleles during the population peaks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Regional and local patterns of genetic variation and structure in yellow‐necked mice ‐ the roles of geographic distance, population abundance, and winter severity

Czarnomska

Niedziałkowska

Borowik

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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The goal of this study, conducted in seven large woodlands and three areas with small woodlots in northeastern Poland in 2004–2008, was to infer genetic structure in yellow‐necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis population and to evaluate the roles of environmental and population ecology variables in shaping the spatial pattern of genetic variation using 768 samples genotyped at 13 microsatellite loci. Genetic variation was very high in all studied regions. The primal genetic subdivision was observed between the northern and the southern parts of the study area, which harbored two major clusters and the intermediate area of highly admixed individuals. The probability of assignment of individual mice to the northern cluster increased significantly with lower temperatures of January and July and declined in regions with higher proportion of deciduous and mixed forests. Despite the detected structure, genetic differentiation among regions was very low. Fine‐scale structure was shaped by the population density, whereas higher level structure was mainly shaped by geographic distance. Genetic similarity indices were highly influenced by mouse abundance (which positively correlated with the share of deciduous forests in the studied regions) and exhibited the greatest change between 0 and 1 km in the forests, 0 and 5 km in small woodlots. Isolation by distance pattern, calculated among regions, was highly significant but such relationship between genetic and geographic distance was much weaker, and held the linearity at very fine scale (~1.5 km), when analyses were conducted at individual level.

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Long-term stability of allozyme frequencies in a wood lemming, Myopus schisticolor, population with a biased sex ratio and density fluctuations

Cited by 14 publications

References 37 publications

Genetic perspectives on northern population cycles: bridging the gap between theory and empirical studies

Genetic perspectives on northern population cycles: bridging the gap between theory and empirical studies

Genetic diversity decreases as population density declines: Implications of temporal variation in mitochondrial haplotype frequencies in a natural population of Tscherskia triton

Regional and local patterns of genetic variation and structure in yellow‐necked mice ‐ the roles of geographic distance, population abundance, and winter severity

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