Age-dependent genetic variance in a life-history trait in the mute swan.

ABSTRACT: Genetic variance in characters under natural selection in natural populations determines the way those populations respond to that selection. Whether populations show temporal and/or spatial constancy in patterns of genetic variance and covariance is regularly considered, as this will determine whether selection responses are constant over space and time. Much less often considered is whether characters show differing amounts of genetic variance over the life-history of individuals. Such age-specific variation, if present, has important potential consequences for the force of natural selection and for understanding the causes of variation in quantitative characters. Using data from a long-term study of the mute swan Cygnus olor, we report the partitioning of phenotypic variance in timing o

SUBMITTER: Charmantier A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1560027 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature