The Fitness of Fitness Concepts and the Description of Natural Selection

Jong, G. de

doi:10.1086/418431

Cited by 73 publications

(63 citation statements)

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“…The consequences of any set of adaptations in a given environmentwhether morphological, physiological, or life history traits-are best evaluated by examining both performance and fitness (Endler 1986;Arnold & Wade 1984a,b;Kozlowski 1993). Short-term fitness components such as growth rate, energy balance, reproductive output per season, mortality rate, and lifetime egg/offspring production are common measures of performance (often referred to as fitness) (Thoday 1953, McGraw & Caswell 1996; for mussels, see Bierne et al 2006, Shields et al 2008, but population-level responses can be assessed only when all such response variables are incorporated into a multigeneration measure of fitness based on growth, reproduction, and survivorship (de Jong 1994). To this end, researchers have used a combination of empirical measurements and mathematical models to generate comparative measures of population growth rate (i.e., r or λ, where r = lnλ) (Metz et al 1992, McGraw & Caswell 1996 as an estimation of individual (Darwinian) fitness.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Mussels as a Model System for Integrative Ecomechanics

Carrington

Waite

Sarà

et al. 2015

Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci.

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Mussels form dense aggregations that dominate temperate rocky shores, and they are key aquaculture species worldwide. Coastal environments are dynamic across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, and their changing abiotic conditions affect mussel populations in a variety of ways, including altering their investments in structures, physiological processes, growth, and reproduction. Here, we describe four categories of ecomechanical models (biochemical, mechanical, energetic, and population) that we have developed to describe specific aspects of mussel biology, ranging from byssal attachment to energetics, population growth, and fitness. This review highlights how recent advances in these mechanistic models now allow us to link them together across molecular, material, organismal, and population scales of organization. This integrated ecomechanical approach provides explicit and sometimes novel predictions about how natural and farmed mussel populations will fare in changing climatic conditions.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Mussels as a Model System for Integrative Ecomechanics

Carrington

Waite

Sarà

et al. 2015

Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci.

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“…Selection gradients at the phenotypic level are not necessarily equal to gradients at the genetic level (Rausher, 1992); they may differ due to strong selection and non-linear fitnesses (De Jong, 1994a). Also, the phenotypic gradient may be a poor predictor of selection at the genetic level, if the genetic or environmental component of the phenotype is correlated with fitness rather than the phenotype itself; this can be checked by comparing selection at the phenotypic and genetic level (Rausher, 1992;Van Tienderen & De Jong, 1994).…”

Section: (Ii) Selection Gradientsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selection on reaction norms, genetic correlations and constraints

Tienderen

Koelewijn

1994

Genet. Res.

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Two approaches to the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in heterogeneous environments have recently been put forward. The first focuses on selection on the character expression within each environment; plasticity is seen as a by-product of local selection in various habitats. The second approach focuses on selection on the parameters of the response function of genotypes, and selection is thought to change the frequencies of 'plasticity' genes that affect the function. This paper discusses the relationship between the two approaches, with emphasis on applications. A method is described that allows switching from one approach to the other. It is argued that character state and reaction norm approaches, while to a large extent interchangeable, usually differ in the response function chosen. This choice, however, may strongly affect the biological interpretation. The methods outlined in this paper permit one to look at the data from different perspectives in order to avoid this danger.

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“…As such, the concept of fitness explicitly links the environment, organisms, and traits to the evolutionary process, and thus serves as a central, unifying concept in biology ( de Jong 1994;McGraw and Caswell 1996;Brommer et al 2002;Link et al 2002). Fitness has been variously defined, but most authors consider it to be a demographic concept, and use quantities such as intrinsic rate of natural increase, r, and net reproductive rate, R 0 , to quantify fitness (Partridge and Harvey 1988;de Jong 1994). These fitness measures use age-specific lifehistory data, and provide an estimate of fitness for a group of organisms but do not consider the fitness of individuals that compose the population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ironically, it is the individual that is born, that survives, matures, reproduces, and dies. Consequently, most empirical studies apply the concept of individual fitness by measuring survival and fecundity of individuals (Clutton-Brock 1988;de Jong 1994). The concept of individual fitness can provide valuable insights into the pattern and strength of natural selection (McGraw and Caswell 1996;Käär and Jokela 1998;Link et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociality and individual fitness in yellow-bellied marmots: insights from a long-term study (1962?2001)

Oli

Armitage

2003

Oecologia

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Theoretical and empirical studies suggest that the age of first reproduction (the age at which reproduction begins) can have a substantial influence on population dynamics and individual fitness. Using complete survival and reproductive histories of 428 female yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) from a 40-year study (1962-2001), we investigated causes and fitness consequences of delayed maturity. Most females (86%) died without reproducing. The age of first reproduction of females that survived to reproduce at least once (n=60) ranged from 2 to 6 years. Females maturing later did not have a larger lifetime number of successful reproductive events or offspring production, nor did they experience improved survival. Females reproducing earlier had a higher fitness than those that delayed maturity. These results suggest that the net cost of early maturity was less than fitness benefits associated with early onset of reproduction, and that age of first reproduction in our study population is under substantial directional selection favoring early maturity. We conclude that female yellow-bellied marmots delay onset of reproduction not because of fitness benefits of foregoing reproduction at an earlier age, but due to the social suppression of reproduction by older, reproductive females, which enhances their own fitness to the detriment of the fitness of young females. Our results indicate that female yellow-bellied marmots that survive to reproduce may act to increase their own direct fitness, and that social suppression of reproduction of young females is a part of that strategy.

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The Fitness of Fitness Concepts and the Description of Natural Selection

Cited by 73 publications

References 0 publications

Mussels as a Model System for Integrative Ecomechanics

Mussels as a Model System for Integrative Ecomechanics

Selection on reaction norms, genetic correlations and constraints

Sociality and individual fitness in yellow-bellied marmots: insights from a long-term study (1962?2001)

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