Sammanfattning

Behavioural syndromes, that is correlated behaviours, may be a result from adaptive correlational selection, but in a new environmental setting, the trait correlation might act as an evolutionary constraint. However, knowledge about the quantitative genetic basis of behavioural syndromes, and the stability and evolvability of genetic correlations under different ecological conditions, is limited. We investigated the quantitative genetic basis of correlated behaviours in the freshwater isopod Asellus aquaticus. In some Swedish lakes, A.aquaticus has recently colonized a novel habitat and diverged into two ecotypes, presumably due to habitat-specific selection from predation. Using a common garden approach and animal model analyses, we estimated quantitative genetic parameters for behavioural traits and compared the genetic architecture between the ecotypes. We report that the genetic covariance structure of the behavioural traits has been altered in the novel ecotype, demonstrating divergence in behavioural correlations. Thus, our study confirms that genetic correlations behind behaviours can change rapidly in response to novel selective environments.

Nyckelord

animal personality; Asellus aquaticus; boldness; correlational selection; ecotype; G-matrix; heritability; predation

Publicerad i

Journal of Evolutionary Biology
2016, Volym: 29, nummer: 1, sidor: 144-152

UKÄ forskningsämne

Evolutionsbiologi


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.12769

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/74253