Indirect genetic effects in behavioral ecology: does behavior play a special role in evolution?

Bailey, Nathan W.; Marie‐Orleach, Lucas; Moore, Allen J.

doi:10.1093/beheco/arx127

Cited by 102 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 118 publications

(168 reference statements)

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“…These findings support the notion that behavior, and the evolutionary rates thereof, might be particularly prone to variation in the social environment (Bailey et al. ), compared to other aspects of the environment such as predation threats. We employed a pedigreed full‐sib/half‐sib breeding design over two generations to assess the heritability and evolvability of different behaviors across two environments, one in which crickets were exposed to silence and one in which they were exposed to male acoustic sexual signals.…”

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confidence: 87%

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Social cues affect quantitative genetic variation and covariation in animal personality traits

2019

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The social environment is expected to have substantial effects on behavior, and as a consequence, its heritability and evolvability. We investigated these effects by exposing Australian field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus) to either silence or recordings of male acoustic sexual signals. We used a combined pedigree and full‐sib/half‐sib breeding design to estimate the repeatability, heritability, and evolvability of behaviors related to boldness, exploration, and activity. All behaviors measured were significantly repeatable in both social environments. Additionally, most behaviors showed significant heritabilities in the two environments. We found no difference in repeatabilities between the silent and the acoustic environment but did find significant differences in the heritabilities and evolvabilities between these environments. There was a high degree of similarity between the phenotypic covariance matrices across the two environments, while the genotypic covariance matrices were highly dissimilar. Reflecting this, we found significant genotype‐by‐environment interactions for most of the behaviors. Lastly, we found that the repeatable aspect of behavior (“personality”) was significantly heritable for most behaviors, but that these heritabilities were higher in the acoustic than in the silent environment. We conclude that the social environment can have a significant impact on the heritability and evolvability of behavior, and argue that evolutionary inferences from phenotypic studies should be made with caution.

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supporting

confidence: 87%

“…; Bailey et al. ). Here, we found that variation in the social environment (the presence or absence of male acoustic sexual signals) had substantial effects on estimates of behavioral heritability and evolvability in the Australian field cricket ( Teleogryllus oceanicus ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Social cues affect quantitative genetic variation and covariation in animal personality traits

2019

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“…More generally, accumulating evidence for IGE and GxG epistasis in many systems (Bijma ; Bailey et al. ) suggests that social genetic effects and interactions are pervasive. These effects are generally overlooked in theory exploring the maintenance of genetic variation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GxG epistasis in growth and condition and the maintenance of genetic polymorphism inGambusia holbrooki

et al. 2018

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Theory on indirect genetic effects (IGEs) indicates that variation in the genetic composition of social groups can generate GxG epistasis that may promote the evolution of stable polymorphisms. Using a livebearing fish with a genetic polymorphism in coloration and associated behavioral differences, we tested whether genotypes of social partners interacted with focal individual genotypes to influence growth and condition over 16 weeks of development. We found that IGEs had a significant influence on patterns of feeding, regardless of focal fish genotype. There was no influence of social environment on juvenile length, but there was significant GxG epistasis for body condition. Each focal juvenile was in better condition when its own genotype was not present in adult social partners. These data are consistent with negative frequency-dependent selection in which each morph performs better when it is rare. Neither variation in feeding nor activity-related behaviors explained variation in body condition, suggesting that GxG epistasis for condition was caused by physiological differences between the two genotypes. These findings indicate that GxG epistasis in a given polymorphism can generate fitness landscapes that contribute to the maintenance of that polymorphism and to maintenance of genetic variation for additional fitness-related traits.

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“…Our illustration for simplicity assumes that

ψ

represents a unidimensional form of plasticity although we appreciate that it is typically multidimensional in nature (Bailey et al. ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Increased developmental density decreases the magnitude of indirect genetic effects expressed during agonistic interactions in an insect

et al. 2018

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The expression of aggression depends not only on the direct genetic effects (DGEs) of an individual's genes on its own behavior, but also on indirect genetic effects (IGEs) caused by heritable phenotypes expressed by social partners. IGEs can affect the amount of heritable variance on which selection can act. Despite the important roles of IGEs in the evolutionary process, it remains largely unknown whether the strength of IGEs varies across life stages or competitive regimes. Based on manipulations of nymphal densities and> 3000 pair-wise aggression tests across multiple life stages, we experimentally demonstrate that IGEs on aggression are stronger in field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) that develop at lower densities than in those that develop at higher densities, and that these effects persist with age. The existence of density-dependent IGEs implies that social interactions strongly determine the plastic expression of aggression when competition for resources is relaxed. A more competitive (higher density) rearing environment may fail to provide crickets with sufficient resources to develop social cognition required for strong IGEs. The contribution of IGEs to evolutionary responses was greater at lower densities. Our study thereby demonstrates the importance of considering IGEs in density-dependent ecological and evolutionary processes.

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Indirect genetic effects in behavioral ecology: does behavior play a special role in evolution?

Cited by 102 publications

References 118 publications

Social cues affect quantitative genetic variation and covariation in animal personality traits

Social cues affect quantitative genetic variation and covariation in animal personality traits

GxG epistasis in growth and condition and the maintenance of genetic polymorphism inGambusia holbrooki

Increased developmental density decreases the magnitude of indirect genetic effects expressed during agonistic interactions in an insect

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