The Methods of Genetical Ecology Applied to the Study of Evolutionary Change

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to discuss the potential value of quantitative genetic methods in the study of micro-evolution. Micro-evolution results from the action of natural selection on the genetic variation present within populations (see also Chap. 2). It follows that an absence of micro-evolutionary change results either from the absence of net selection or from the absence of genetic variation. If we want to study micro-evolution, we therefore have to study natural selection and genetics simultaneously.