Effects of learning and adaptation on population viability

Cultural adaptation is one means by which conservationists may help populations adapt to threats. A learned behavior may protect an individual from a threat, and the behavior can be transmitted horizontally (within generations) and vertically (between generations), rapidly conferring population-level protection. Although possible in theory, it remains unclear whether such manipulations work in a conservation setting; what conditions are required for them to work; and how they might affect the evolutionary process. We examined models in which a population can adapt through both genetic and cultural mechanisms. Our work was motivated by the invasion of highly toxic cane toads (Rhinella marina) across northern Australia and the resultant declines of endangered northern quolls (Dasyurus hallucatus), which attack and are fatally poisoned by the toxic toads. We examined whether a novel management strategy in which wild quolls are trained to avoid toads can reduce extinction probability. We used a simulation model tailored to quoll life history. Within simulations, individuals were trained and a continuous evolving trait determined innate tendency to attack toads. We applied this model in a population viability setting. The strategy reduced extinction probability only when heritability of innate aversion was low (<20%) and when trained mothers trained >70% of their young to avoid toads. When these conditions were met, genetic adaptation was slower, but rapid cultural adaptation kept the population extant while genetic adaptation was completed. To gain insight into the evolutionary dynamics (in which we saw a transitory peak in cultural adaptation over time), we also developed a simple analytical model of evolutionary dynamics. This model showed that the strength of natural selection declined as the cultural transmission rate increased and that adaptation proceeded only when the rate of cultural transmission was below a critical value determined by the relative levels of protection conferred by genetic versus cultural mechanisms. Together, our models showed that cultural adaptation can play a powerful role in preventing extinction, but that rates of cultural transmission need to be high for this to occur.     

Impact of Invasive Cane Toads on Australian Birds

Abstract: The cane toad (Bufo marinus), a large, toxic, American anuran, was introduced to Australia in 1935. Populations of many of Australia's reptiles (snakes, varanid lizards, crocodiles) and carnivorous mammals (dasyurid marsupials) have declined because these predators are killed by the toad's powerful toxins. In contrast to these well‐studied species, little is known about the cane toads impacts on Australian birds. We reviewed published and unpublished data on behavioral interactions between Australian avian predators and cane toads and collated distributional and dietary information to identify avian taxa potentially at risk from cane toad invasion. Cane toads are sympatric with 172 frog‐eating bird species in Australia, and an additional 8 bird species overlap with the predicted future range of the toad. Although many bird species thus are potentially at risk, behavioral observations suggest the risk level is generally low. Despite occasional reports of Australian birds being killed when they ingest cane toads, most birds either ignore toads or survive the predation event. The apparently higher tolerance of Australian birds to toad toxins, compared with Australian reptiles and marsupials, may reflect genetic exchange between Australian birds and Asian populations that encounter other bufonid species regularly and hence have evolved the capacity to recognize or tolerate this toxic prey.     

Ostrich chick humoral immune responses and growth rate are predicted by parental immune responses and paternal colouration

One of the most important measures of offspring performance is growth rate, which is often traded off against another important survival trait, immune function. A particular feature of ostrich chicks maintained in farmed environments is that cohorts of chicks vary widely in size. As parents can have a profound effect on the phenotype and fitness of their offspring, we investigated whether chick growth and immune defence were related to variation in levels of immune defence in their genetic parents. As secondary sexual traits of sires could serve as indicators of male quality, and be used in female mating decisions, we also investigated whether chick growth rate and immune defence were related to male plumage and integumentary colouration. We found that offspring growth rates and humoral responses were related to the humoral responses of their parents, suggesting that at least some components of humoral immune capacity are heritable. The white colour of male ostrich feathers was correlated to the humoral response and growth rate of their offspring, suggesting that this visual cue involved in the male courtship display could serve as an important signal to females of male quality, thereby forming the basis of mate choice in this species.     

Targeted gene flow for conservation

Anthropogenic threats often impose strong selection on affected populations, causing rapid evolutionary responses. Unfortunately, these adaptive responses are rarely harnessed for conservation. We suggest that conservation managers pay close attention to adaptive processes and geographic variation, with an eye to using them for conservation goals. Translocating pre‐adapted individuals into recipient populations is currently considered a potentially important management tool in the face of climate change. Targeted gene flow, which involves moving individuals with favorable traits to areas where these traits would have a conservation benefit, could have a much broader application in conservation. Across a species’ range there may be long‐standing geographic variation in traits or variation may have rapidly developed in response to a threatening process. Targeted gene flow could be used to promote natural resistance to threats to increase species resilience. We suggest that targeted gene flow is a currently underappreciated strategy in conservation that has applications ranging from the management of invasive species and their impacts to controlling the impact and virulence of pathogens.     

The behavioral ecology of cannibalism in cane toads (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Bufo marinus</Emphasis>)

Laboratory studies show that predatory cane toads (Bufo marinus) exhibit specialized toe-luring behavior that attracts smaller conspecifics, but field surveys of toad diet rarely record cannibalism. Our data resolve this paradox, showing that cannibalism is common under specific ecological conditions. In the wet–dry tropics of Australia, desiccation risk constrains recently metamorphosed toads to the edges of the natal pond. Juvenile toads large enough to consume their smaller conspecifics switch to a primarily cannibalistic diet (67% of prey biomass in stomachs of larger toads). Cannibalistic attack was triggered by prey movement, and (perhaps as an adaptive response to this threat) small (edible-sized) toads were virtually immobile at night (when cannibals were active). Smaller metamorphs were consumed more frequently than were larger conspecifics. The switch from insectivory to cannibalism reflects the high dry season densities of small conspecifics (in turn, due to desiccation-imposed constraints to dispersal) and the scarcity of alternative (insect) prey during dry weather. Our study pond (102 m in circumference) supported >400 juvenile toads, which consumed many metamorphs over the course of our study. Toads appear to be low-quality food items for other toads; in laboratory trials, juvenile toads that fed only on conspecifics grew less rapidly than those that ate an equivalent mass of insects. This effect was not due to parotoid gland toxins per se. Thus, cane toads switch to intensive cannibalism only when seasonal precipitation regimes increase encounter rates between large and small toads, while simultaneously reducing the availability of alternative prey.     

Estimates of Lethal Equivalents and the Cost of Inbreeding in Mammals

Abstract: The costs of inbreeding in natural populations of mammals are unknown despite their theoretical importance in genetic and sociobiological models and practical applications in conservation biology. A major cost of inbreeding is the reduced survival of inbred young. We estimate this cost from the regression of juvenile survival on the inbreeding coefficient using pedigrees of 40 captive mammalian populations belonging to 38 species.
The number of lethal equivalents ranged from –1.4 to 30.3, with a mean of 4.6 and a median of 3.1. There was no significant difference between populations founded with wild-caught individuals, a mixture of wild-caught and captive-born individuals, and individuals of unknown origin. The average cost of a parent-offspring or full sibling mating was 0.33, that is, mortality was 33% higher in offspring of such matings than in offspring of unrelated parents. This is likely to be an underestimate.     

Assessing the Potential Impact of Cane Toads on Australian Snakes

Abstract:   Cane toads ( Bufo marinus ) are large, highly toxic anurans that were introduced into Australia in 1937. Anecdotal reports suggest that the invasion of toads into an area is followed by dramatic declines in the abundance of terrestrial native frog-eating predators, but quantitative studies have been restricted to nonpredator taxa or aquatic predators and have generally reported minimal impacts. Will toads substantially affect Australian snakes? Based on geographic distributions and dietary composition, we identified 49 snake taxa as potentially at risk from toads. The impact of these feral prey also depends on the snakes' ability to survive after ingesting toad toxins. Based on decrements in locomotor (swimming) performance after ingesting toxin, we estimate the LD₅₀ of toad toxins for 10 of the at-risk snake species. Most species exhibited a similar low ability to tolerate toad toxins. Based on head widths relative to sizes of toads, we calculate that 7 of the 10 taxa could easily ingest a fatal dose of toxin in a single meal. The exceptions were two colubrid taxa (keelbacks [  Tropidonophis mairii ] and slatey-grey snakes [  Stegonotus cucullatus ]) with much higher resistance to toad toxins (up to 85-fold) and one elapid (swamp snakes [  Hemiaspis signata ]) with low resistance but a small relative head size and thus low maximum prey size. Overall, our analysis suggests that cane toads threaten populations of approximately 30% of terrestrial Australian snake species.     

Melanin-based colorations signal strategies to cope with poor and rich environments

One hypothesis for the maintenance of genetic variation states that alternative genotypes are adapted to different environmental conditions (i.e., genotype-by-environment interaction G×E) that vary in space and time. Although G×E has been demonstrated for morphological traits, little evidence has been given whether these G×E are associated with traits used as signal in mate choice. In three wild bird species, we investigated whether the degree of melanin-based coloration, a heritable trait, covaries with nestling growth rate in rich and poor environments. Variation in the degree of reddish-brown phaeomelanism is pronounced in the barn owl (Tyto alba) and tawny owl (Strix aluco), and variation in black eumelanism in the barn owl and Alpine swift (Apus melba). Melanin-based coloration has been shown to be a criterion in mate choice in the barn owl. We cross-fostered hatchlings to test whether nestlings sired by parents displaying melanin-based colorations to different extent exhibit alternative growth trajectories when raised by foster parents in poor (experimentally enlarged broods) and rich (experimentally reduced broods) environments. With respect to phaeomelanism, barn owl and tawny owl offspring sired by redder parents grew more rapidly in body mass only in experimentally reduced broods. With respect to eumelanism, Alpine swift offspring of darker fathers grew their wings more rapidly only in experimentally enlarged broods, a difference that was not detected in reduced broods. These interactions between parental melanism and offspring growth rate indicate that individuals display substantial plasticity in response to the rearing environment which is associated with the degree of melanism: at least with respect to nestling growth, phaeomelanic and eumelanic individuals are best adapted to rich and poor environments, respectively. It now remains to be investigated why eumelanism and phaeomelanism have a different signaling function and what the lifelong consequences of these melanism-dependent allocation strategies are. This is important to fully appraise the role played by environmental heterogeneity in maintaining variation in the degree of melanin-based coloration.     

The uses and implications of avian vocalizations for conservation planning

There is a growing recognition that animal behavior can affect wildlife conservation, but there have been few direct studies of animal behavior in conservation programs. However, a great deal of existing behavioral research can be applied in the context of conservation. Research on avian vocalizations provides an excellent example. The conspicuous nature of the vocal behavior of birds makes it a useful tool for monitoring populations and measuring biodiversity, but the importance of vocalizations in conservation goes beyond monitoring. Geographic song variants with population-specific signatures, or dialects, can affect territory formation and mate choice. Dialects are influenced by cultural evolution and natural selection and changes can accumulate even during the timescale of conservation interventions, such as translocations, reintroductions, and ex situ breeding. Information from existing research into avian vocalizations can be used to improve conservation planning and increase the success of interventions. Vocalizations can confer a number of benefits for conservation practitioners through monitoring, providing baseline data on populations and individuals. However, the influence of cultural variation on territory formation, mate choice, and gene flow should be taken into account because cultural differences could create obstacles for conservation programs that bring birds from multiple populations together and so reduce the success of interventions.     

Heritable and experiential effects on boldness in a tropical poeciliid

Consistent differences in human behaviour are often explained with reference to personality traits. Recent evidence suggests that similar traits are widespread across the entire animal kingdom and that they may have substantial fitness consequences. One of the major components of personality is the shyness–boldness continuum. Little is known about the relative contributions of genes and the environment in the development of boldness in wild animal populations. Here, we bred wild-caught fish (Brachyraphis episcopi) collected from regions of high- and low-predation pressure, reared their offspring in the laboratory under varying conditions and tested boldness utilising an open-field paradigm. First-generation laboratory-reared fish showed similar behaviour to their wild parents suggesting that boldness has a heritable component. In addition, repeated chasing with a net increased boldness in both high- and low-predation offspring, showing that boldness is also heavily influenced by life experiences. Differences between males and females were also sustained in the laboratory-reared generation indicating that sex differences in boldness are also heritable. We discuss these results with reference to the potential underlying genetic and hormonal mechanisms as well as the environmental influences that may be responsible for expression of boldness in wild animals.     

Rapid Evolution in the Wild: Changes in Body Size, Life-History Traits, and Behavior in Hunted Populations of the Japanese Mamushi Snake

Abstract:  Rapid evolution caused by human exploitation of wildlife is not usually addressed in studies of the impacts of such exploitation despite its direct relevance to population persistence. Japanese mamushi ( Gloydius blomhoffii ), an endemic venomous snake of the Japanese archipelago, has been heavily hunted by humans, and many populations appear to be declining or are already extirpated. We compared local populations that have been hunted regularly with populations that have not been hunted. Mamushi in hunted populations were smaller, had fewer vertebrae, produced more and smaller offspring, had increased reproductive effort among smaller females, and in nature fled at greater distances from an approaching human and were less defensive than mamushi in unhunted populations, as predicted from life-history theory. Heritability estimates for body size, number of vertebrae, and antipredator behavior were statistically significant, and neonates from hunted sites showed the same distribution of altered characters (compared with those from unhunted sites) as adults. Thus, distribution of the divergent trait between hunted and unhunted sites appeared in part to be genetically based, which suggests rapid evolution to human predation pressures. Trait distributions in hunted populations probably deviate from naturally (as opposed to anthropogenically) selected optima and, therefore, may have long-term negative repercussions on population persistence. Because rapid evolution affects a suite of parameters that characterize exploited populations, accurate understanding of the impacts of exploitation and effective resource management and conservation can only be achieved if evolutionary consequences are considered explicitly.     

Quantitative recommendations for amphibian terrestrial habitat conservation derived from habitat selection behavior

Conservation scientists have noted that conservation managers rarely use scientific information when making decisions. One of the reasons why managers rarely use scientific information may be that conservation scientists rarely provide their knowledge in a way that can directly be used by conservation practitioners. Here we show how quantitative recommendations for conservation can be derived. Previous research on terrestrial habitat selection behavior of toads (Bufo bufo and Bufo viridis) showed that wood deposits are a key resource in the terrestrial habitat. We used habitat-dependence analysis to estimate the amount of this key resource, wood deposits, that individual toads require. Based on these estimates we then quantify the requirements for wood deposits for a population. Additionally, we quantified the area that a population requires. Although wood deposits vary strongly in size, we found little evidence for size preferences: only one species preferred smallest sizes of wood deposits. We report all the estimates in a way that can be directly used by conservation managers. Habitat-dependence analysis is a simple and useful tool to quantify habitat requirements. Provisioning of wood deposits may improve the quality of terrestrial habitat for amphibians. Thereby, managers may increase the carrying capacity of terrestrial habitats and support elevated population densities.     

Nest-Site Selection in Individual Loggerhead Turtles and Consequences for Doomed-Egg Relocation

Abstract:  Relocation of eggs is a common strategy for conservation of declining reptilian populations around the world. If individuals exhibit consistency in their nest-site selection and if nest-site selection is a heritable trait, relocating eggs deposited in vulnerable locations may impose artificial selection that would maintain traits favoring unsuccessful nest-site selection. Conversely, if most individuals scatter their nesting effort and individuals that consistently select unsuccessful nest sites are uncommon, then artificial selection would be less of a concern. During the 2005 nesting season of loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta ) at Mon Repos beach, Queensland, Australia, we measured the perpendicular distance from the original nest site to a stationary dune baseline for in situ (unrelocated) and relocated clutches of eggs. We observed the fate of in situ clutches and predicted what would have been the fate of relocated clutches if they had not been moved by mapping tidal inundation and storm erosion lines. In 2005 turtles deposited an average of 3.84 nests and did not consistently select nest sites at particular distances from the stationary dune baseline. Selection of unsuccessful nest sites was distributed across the nesting population; 80.3% of the turtles selected at least one unsuccessful nest site and when previous breeding seasons were included, 97% selected at least one unsuccessful nest site. Females with nesting experience selected more successful nest sites than females with little or no experience. Relocating eggs vulnerable to tidal inundation and erosion saves the progeny from a large percentage of the population and the progeny from individuals who may in subsequent years nest successfully. Our results suggest that doomed-egg relocation does not substantially distort the gene pool in the eastern Australian loggerhead stock and should not be abandoned as a strategy for the conservation of marine turtle populations.     

Response Variables for Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Conservation Corridors

Many studies have evaluated effectiveness of corridors by measuring species presence in and movement through small structural corridors. However, few studies have assessed whether these response variables are adequate for assessing whether the conservation goals of the corridors have been achieved or considered the costs or lag times involved in measuring the response variables. We examined 4 response variables—presence of the focal species in the corridor, interpatch movement via the corridor, gene flow, and patch occupancy—with respect to 3 criteria—relevance to conservation goals, lag time (fewest generations at which a positive response to the corridor might be evident with a particular variable), and the cost of a study when applying a particular variable. The presence variable had the least relevance to conservation goals, no lag time advantage compared with interpatch movement, and only a moderate cost advantage over interpatch movement or gene flow. Movement of individual animals between patches was the most appropriate response variable for a corridor intended to provide seasonal migration, but it was not an appropriate response variable for corridor dwellers, and for passage species it was only moderately relevant to the goals of gene flow, demographic rescue, and recolonization. Response variables related to gene flow provided a good trade‐off among cost, relevance to conservation goals, and lag time. Nonetheless, the lag time of 10–20 generations means that evaluation of conservation corridors cannot occur until a few decades after a corridor has been established. Response variables related to occupancy were most relevant to conservation goals, but the lag time and costs to detect corridor effects on occupancy were much greater than the lag time and costs to detect corridor effects on gene flow. Variables de Respuesta para la Evaluación de la Efectividad de los Corredores de Conservación     

Genetic Variation and Outcrossing Rate in Relation to Population Size in Gentiana pneumonanthe L

The amount of genetic variation in the rare perennial herb Gentiana pneumonanthe L. was determined to explore its relation to population size. Differences in isozyme variation between maternal plants and their offspring were used to investigate the relationship between population size and outcrossing rate. In 25 populations in The Netherlands, differing in size from 1 to more than 50,000 flowering individuals, 16 allozyme loci were analyzed on leaves of maternal plants and offspring grown in a greenhouse. Population size was significantly positively correlated with the proportion of polymorphic loci, but only marginally with heterozygosity and the mean effective number of alleles. Most of the studied populations were characterized by a complete absence of rare alleles, and F -statistics suggest relatively high levels of genetic differentiation among populations and thus a low level of gene flow. Leaf samples (maternal) were mostly in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, while several offspring samples showed an excess of homozygotes, which suggests selection favoring heterozygotes. Because most small populations consist only of adult survivors from formerly larger populations, this may partly explain the absence of a clear relationship between genetic variation of the maternal plants and population size. A significant positive correlation was found between the level of cross-fertilization and population size. From these results, we conclude that, to some degree, small populations have a reduced level of genetic variation, while their present isolation in nature reserves has resulted in a very limited interpopulational gene flow level. At present a higher level of inbreeding in small populations contributes to a further loss of genetic variation and may also result in reduced offspring fitness.     

A Bayesian hierarchical approach to quantifying stakeholder attitudes toward conservation in the presence of reporting error

Stakeholder support is vital for achieving conservation success, yet there are few reliable mechanisms to monitor stakeholder attitudes toward conservation. Approaches used to assess attitudes rarely account for bias arising from reporting error, which can lead to falsely reporting a positive attitude toward conservation (false-positive error) or not reporting a positive attitude when the respondent has a positive attitude toward conservation (false-negative error). Borrowing from developments in applied conservation science, we used a Bayesian hierarchical model to quantify stakeholder attitudes as the probability of having a positive attitude toward wildlife notionally (or in abstract terms) and at localized scales while accounting for reporting error. We compared estimates from our model, Likert scores, and naïve estimates (i.e., proportion of respondents reporting a positive attitude in at least 1 question that was only susceptible to false-negative error) with true stakeholder attitudes through simulations. We then applied the model in a survey of tea estate staff on their attitudes toward Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the Kaziranga–Karbi Anglong landscape of northeast India. In simulations, Bayesian model estimates of stakeholder attitudes toward wildlife were less biased than naïve estimates or Likert scores. After accounting for reporting errors, we estimated the probability of having a positive attitude toward elephants notionally as 0.85 in the Kaziranga landscape, whereas the proportion of respondents who had positive attitudes toward elephants at a localized scale was 0.50. In comparison, without accounting for reporting errors, naïve estimates of proportions of respondents with positive attitudes toward elephants were 0.69 and 0.23 notionally and at local scales, respectively. False (positive and negative) reporting probabilities were consistently not 0 (0.22–0.68). Regular and reliable assessment of stakeholder attitudes–combined with inference on drivers of positive attitudes–can help assess the success of initiatives aimed at facilitating human behavioral change and inform conservation decision making.     

Past,present, and future of a freshwater fish metapopulation in a threatened landscape

It is well documented that hydropower plants can affect the dynamics of fish populations through landscape alterations and the creation of new barriers. Less emphasis has been placed on the examination of the genetic consequences for fish populations of the construction of dams. The relatively few studies that focus on genetics often do not consider colonization history and even fewer tend to use this information for conservation purposes. As a case study, we used a 3‐pronged approach to study the influence of historical processes, contemporary landscape features, and potential future anthropogenic changes in landscape on the genetic diversity of a fish metapopulation. Our goal was to identify the metapopulation's main attributes, detect priority areas for conservation, and assess the consequences of the construction of hydropower plants for the persistence of the metapopulation. We used microsatellite markers and coalescent approaches to examine historical colonization processes, traditional population genetics, and simulations of future populations under alternate scenarios of population size reduction and gene flow. Historical gene flow appeared to have declined relatively recently and contemporary populations appeared highly susceptible to changes in landscape. Gene flow is critical for population persistence. We found that hydropower plants could lead to a rapid reduction in number of alleles and to population extirpation 50–80 years after their construction. More generally, our 3‐pronged approach for the analyses of empirical genetic data can provide policy makers with information on the potential impacts of landscape changes and thus lead to more robust conservation efforts.     

Multigenerational genetic analysis of tropical secondary regeneration in a canopy palm

Iriartea deltoidea (Arecaceae) is an abundant canopy palm with a wide geographic distribution in Neotropical wet forests. We analyzed the genetic profile across three generations of Iriartea within a 43-ha area encompassing two areas of second-growth and adjoining old-growth forest at La Selva Biological Field Station in northeastern Costa Rica. A total of 311 reproductively mature trees, 99 large saplings, 207 small saplings, and 601 seedlings were genotyped using 141 AFLP loci. Parentage analysis revealed high dispersal distances, both for seed (over 2.3 km) and pollen (over 3.8 km), indicating a large genetic neighborhood within La Selva Biological Station. In a 20-ha area of second growth, the founding palm population was dominated by a small number of parental trees located in the adjacent old-growth forest; two old-growth trees contributed 48% of the second-growth genes. The genetic diversity of reproductively mature trees in this second-growth forest was significantly reduced compared to adjacent old-growth forest. Within 400 m of the border with old-growth forest, we observed a similar reduction of genetic diversity in saplings, and an even greater loss of genetic diversity in the second generation of seedlings. Nearly half of these seedlings were offspring of local parents. In contrast, in the distant portion of second-growth forest (400-800 m from the old-growth border), parentage analysis showed that 40% of seedlings originated from outside the study area and only 10% were offspring of local parents. These high levels of gene flow maintained genetic diversity in saplings and seedlings similar to levels observed in old-growth forest. Our findings highlight the importance of gene flow from diverse seed and pollen sources for sustaining levels of genetic diversity of tree populations in second-growth forests.     

Linking life history to landscape for threatened species conservation in a multiuse region

Landscape-scale conservation that considers metapopulation dynamics will be essential for preventing declines of species facing multiple threats to their survival. Toward this end, we developed a novel approach that combines occurrence records, spatial–environmental data, and genetic information to model habitat, connectivity, and patterns of genetic structure and link spatial attributes to underlying ecological mechanisms. Using the threatened northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) as a case study, we applied this approach to address the need for conservation decision-making tools that promote resilient metapopulations of this threatened species in the Pilbara, Western Australia, a multiuse landscape that is a hotspot for biodiversity and mining. Habitat and connectivity were predicted by different landscape characteristics. Whereas habitat suitability was overwhelmingly driven by terrain ruggedness, dispersal was facilitated by proximity to watercourses. Although there is limited evidence for major physical barriers in the Pilbara, areas with high silt and clay content (i.e., alluvial and hardpan plains) showed high resistance to dispersal. Climate subtlety shaped distributions and patterns of genetic turnover, suggesting the potential for local adaptation. By understanding these spatial–environmental associations and linking them to life-history and metapopulation dynamics, we highlight opportunities to provide targeted species management. To support this, we have created habitat, connectivity, and genetic uniqueness maps for conservation decision-making in the region. These tools have the potential to provide a more holistic approach to conservation in multiuse landscapes globally.     

Stress-induced recombination and the mechanism of evolvability

The concept of evolvability is controversial. To some, it is simply a measure of the standing genetic variation in a population and can be captured by the narrow-sense heritability (h²). To others, evolvability refers to the capacity to generate heritable phenotypic variation. Many scientists, including Darwin, have argued that environmental variation can generate heritable phenotypic variation. However, their theories have been difficult to test. Recent theory on the evolution of sex and recombination provides a much simpler framework for evaluating evolvability. It shows that modifiers of recombination can increase in prevalence whenever low fitness individuals produce proportionately more recombinant offspring. Because recombination can generate heritable variation, stress-induced recombination might be a plausible mechanism of evolvability if populations exhibit a negative relationship between fitness and recombination. Here we use the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to test for this relationship. We exposed females to mating stress, heat shock or cold shock and measured the temporary changes that occurred in reproductive output and the rate of chromosomal recombination. We found that each stress treatment increased the rate of recombination and that heat shock, but not mating stress or cold shock, generated a negative relationship between reproductive output and recombination rate. The negative relationship was absent in the low-stress controls, which suggests that fitness and recombination may only be associated under stressful conditions. Taken together, these findings suggest that stress-induced recombination might be a mechanism of evolvability.