Strength and tempo of directional selection in the wild

Citation:

Hoekstra HE, Hoekstra JM, Berrigan D, Vignieri SN, Hoang A, Hill CE, Beerli P, Kingsolver JG. Strength and tempo of directional selection in the wild. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2001;98:9157-60.
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Date Published:

Jul 31

Abstract:

Directional selection is a major force driving adaptation and evolutionary change. However, the distribution, strength, and tempo of phenotypic selection acting on quantitative traits in natural populations remain unclear across different study systems. We reviewed the literature (1984-1997) that reported the strength of directional selection as indexed by standardized linear selection gradients (beta). We asked how strong are viability and sexual selection, and whether strength of selection is correlated with the time scale over which it was measured. Estimates of the magnitude of directional selection (absolute value of beta) were exponentially distributed, with few estimates greater than 0.50 and most estimates less than 0.15. Sexual selection (measured by mating success) appeared stronger than viability selection (measured by survival). Viability selection that was measured over short periods (days) was typically stronger than selection measured over longer periods (months and years), but the strength of sexual selection did not vary with duration of selection episodes; as a result, sexual selection was stronger than viability selection over longer time scales (months and years), but not over short time scales (days).

Notes:

Hoekstra, H EHoekstra, J MBerrigan, DVignieri, S NHoang, AHill, C EBeerli, PKingsolver, J GengResearch Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.Review2001/07/27 10:00Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jul 31;98(16):9157-60. Epub 2001 Jul 24.

Last updated on 10/21/2016