Frequency-dependent survival in natural guppy populations

Robert Olendorf, F. Helen Rodd, David Punzalan, Anne E. Houde, Carla Hurt, David N. Reznick and Kimberly A. Hughes ()
Additional contact information
Robert Olendorf: School of Integrative Biology
F. Helen Rodd: University of Toronto
David Punzalan: University of Toronto
Anne E. Houde: Lake Forest College
Carla Hurt: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
David N. Reznick: University of California
Kimberly A. Hughes: School of Integrative Biology

Nature, 2006, vol. 441, issue 7093, 633-636

Abstract: Where the fish are greener? One of the trickiest problems in evolutionary biology is to explain how natural populations maintain an element of genetic diversity. Of all the proposed mechanisms, theory shows that frequency-dependent selection can be the most potent, yet there is only indirect evidence for its importance in natural populations. An experimental manipulation in natural populations of guppies now shows that there is a significant survival advantage for rare genotypes (exotic colouring in males) in natural populations of guppies. This is perhaps the best experimental evidence yet that frequency-dependent selection can be a potent mechanism maintaining genetic variation in natural populations.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04646

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