The role of habitat choice in micro-evolutionary dynamics: An experimental study on the Mediterranean killifish Aphanius fasciatus (Cyprinodontidae).

ABSTRACT: Habitat choice is defined as a nonrandom distribution of genotypes in different microhabitats. Therefore, it could exert a great impact on the genetic variance of natural populations by promoting genetic divergence, local adaptation, and may even lead to sympatric speciation. Despite this potential role in micro- and macro-evolutionary processes, there is little empirical evidence that the various genotypes within a population may differ in habitat choice-related behaviors. Here, we tested whether habitat choice may have contributed to genetic divergence within a local population of the Mediterranean killifish Aphanius fasciatus, which emerged between groups inhabiting microhabitats with different oxygen concentrations during previous field studies. In a first experiment, we studied

SUBMITTER: Angeletti D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5743487 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature