Abstract
This special issue of Genetica brings together a diverse collection of contributions that examine evolution within and among populations (i.e., microevolution), and the role that microevolution plays in the formation of new species and morphological forms (i.e., macroevolution). Many of the papers present evidence of microevolution occurring over contemporary time frames, further validating the near ubiquity of ongoing evolution in the world around us. Several synthetic reviews of empirical work help to define the conditions under which microevolution is or is not likely to occur. Some of the studies speak directly to current controversies in evolutionary biology, such as the relative roles of determinism and contingency, and the nature of the relationship between microevolution and macroevolution. In general, microevolution seems driven largely by deterministic mechanisms, particularly natural selection, but contingency plays a role in (1) determining whether or not suitable conditions are present for evolution to proceed, and (2) guiding the precise manner by which evolution proceeds. Several theoretical treatments and empirical reviews confirm previous research in showing that microevolutionary processes are at least capable of generating macroevolutionary trends. Macroevolution may indeed reflect microevolution writ large but the pattern by which it arises is perhaps best characterized as microevolution writ in fits and starts.
Key words
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Agrawal, A.F., E.D. Brodie III & L.H. Rieseberg, 2001. Possible consequences of genes of major effect: transient changes in the G-matrix. Genetica 112-113: 33–43.
Antonovics, J., A.D. Bradshaw & R.G. Turner, 1971. Heavy metal tolerance in plants. Adv. Ecol. Res. 7: 1–85.
Arnold, S.J., M.E. Pfrender & A.G. Jones, 2001. The adaptive landscape as a conceptual bridge between micro-and macroe-volution. Genetica 112-113: 9–32.
Avise, J.C., 1994. Molecular Markers, Natural History and Evolution. Chapman & Hall, New York.
Baquero, F. & J. Blazquez, 1997. Evolution of antibiotic resistance. Trends Ecol. Evol. 12: 482–487.
Barton, N. & L. Partridge, 2000. Limits to natural selection. BioEssays 22: 1075–1084.
Bell, M., 2001. Lateral plate evolution in the threespine stickleback: getting nowhere fast. Genetica 112-113: 445–461.
Bennett, K.D., 1997. Evolution and Ecology: The Pace of Life. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Bone, E. & A. Farres, 2001. Trends and rates of microevolution in plants. Genetica 112-113: 165–182.
Carroll, R.L., 2000. Towards a new evolutionary synthesis. Trends Ecol. Evol. 15: 27–32.
Carroll, S.P., H. Dingle, T.R. Famula & C.W. Fox, 2001. Genetic architecture of adaptive differentiation in evolving host races of the soapberry bug, Jadera haematoloma. Genetica 112-113: 257–272.
Charlesworth, B., R. Lande & M. Slatkin, 1982. A neo-Darwinian commentary on macroevolution. Evolution 36: 474–498.
Conover, D.O. & E.T. Schultz, 1995. Phenotypic similarity and the evolutionary significance of countergradient variation. Trends Ecol. Evol. 10: 248–252.
Conway Morris, S., 1998. The Crucible of Creation. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Darwin, C., 1859. On the Origin of Species. John Murray, London.
Day, T., 2001. Population structure inhibits evolutionary diversification under competition for resources. Genetica 112-113: 71–86.
Dobzhansky, T., 1937. Genetics and the Origin of Species. Columbia University Press, New York.
Endler, J.A., 1980. Natural selection on color patterns in Poecilia reticulata. Evolution 34: 76–91.
Endler, J.A., 1986. Natural Selection in the Wild. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Endler, J.A., 1995. Multiple-trait coevolution and environmental gradients in guppies. Trends Ecol. Evol. 10: 22–29.
Felsenstein, J., 1985. Phylogenies and the comparative method. Am. Nat. 125: 1–15.
Filchak, K.E., J.B. Roethele & J.L. Feder, 2000. Natural selection and sympatric divergence in the apple maggot Rhagoletis pomonella. Nature 407: 739–742.
Filipchenko, I.A., 1927. Variabilität und variation (Variability and Variation). Gebrüder Bomtraeger, Berlin.
Filipchenko, I.A., 1929. Izmenchivost’ I metody ee izucheniia (Variation and Methods for its Study), Gosizdat, Leningrad, 4th edn.
Fisher, R.A., 1930. The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. The Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Gavrilets, S., 2000. Waiting time to parapatric speciation. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 267: 2483–2492.
Gilchrist, G.W., R.B. Huey & L. Serra, 2001. Rapid evolution of wing size clines in Drosophila subobscura. Genetica 112-113: 273–286.
Gingerich, P.D., 2001. Rates of evolution on the time scale of the evolutionary process. Genetica 112-113: 127–144.
Goldschmidt, R., 1940. The Material Basis of Evolution. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Gomulkiewicz, R. & R.D. Holt, 1995. When does evolution by natural selection prevent extinction? Evolution 49: 201–207.
Gould, S.J., 1989. Wonderful Life. W.W. Norton & Company Inc., New York.
Gould, S.J. & N. Eldredge, 1977. Punctuated equilibria: the tempo and mode of evolution reconsidered. Paleobiology 3: 115–151.
Grant, P.R. & B.R. Grant, 1995. Predicting microevolutionary responses to directional selection on heritable variation. Evolution 49:241–251.
Grant, P.R., B.R. Grant & K. Petren, 2001. A population founded by a single pair of individuals: establishment, expansion and evolution. Genetica 112-113: 359–382.
Haidane, J.B.S., 1932. The Causes of Evolution. Longman, Greens & Co., London.
Hansen, T.F. & E.P. Martins, 1996. Translating between microevolutionary process and macroevolutionary patterns: the correlation structure of interspecific data. Evolution 50: 1404–1417.
Haugen, T.O. & L.A. Vøllestad, 2001. A century of life-history evolution in grayling. Genetica 112-113: 475–491.
Hendry, A.P., 2001. Adaptive divergence and the evolution of reproductive isolation in the wild: an empirical demonstration using introduced sockeye salmon. Genetica 112-113: 515–534.
Hendry, A.P. & M.T. Kinnison, 1999. The pace of modern life: measuring rates of contemporary microevolution. Evolution 53: 1637–1653.
Hendry, A.P., J.K. Wenburg, P. Bentzen, E.C. Volk & T.P. Quinn, 2000. Rapid evolution of reproductive isolation in the wild: evidence from introduced salmon. Science 290: 516–518.
Houle, D., 1992. Comparing evolvability and variability of quantitative traits. Genetics 130: 195–204.
Huey, R.B., G.W. Gilchrist, M.L. Carlson, D. Berrigan & L. Serra, 2000. Rapid evolution of a geographic cline in size in an introduced fly. Science 287: 308–309.
Huxley, J. 1942. Evolution, the Modern Synthesis. Allen and Unwin, London.
Irwin, D.E., S. Bensch & T.D. Price, 2001. Speciation in a ring. Nature 409: 333–337.
Irwin, D.E., J.H. Irwin & T.D. Price, 2001. Ring species as bridges between microevolution and speciation. Genetica 112-113: 223–243.
Jablonski, D., 2000. Micro-and macroevolution: scale and hierarchy in evolutionary biology and paleobiology. Paleobiology 26 (suppl.): 15–52.
Johnson, N.A. & A.H. Porter, 2001. Toward a new synthesis: population genetics and evolutionary developmental biology. Genetica 112-113: 45–58.
Kettlewell, H.B.D., 1973. The Evolution of Melanism. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Kingsolver, J.G., H.E. Hoekstra, J.M. Hoekstra, D. Berrigan, S.N. Vignieri, C.E. Hill, A. Hoang, P. Gibert & P. Beerli, 2001. The strength of phenotypic selection in natural popualations. Am. Nat. 157: 245–261.
Kingsolver, J.G., R. Gomulkiewicz & P.A. Carter, 2001. Variation, selection and evolution of function-valued traits. Genetica 112-113: 87–104.
Kinnison, M.T. & A.P. Hendry, 2001. The pace of modern life II: from rates of contemporary microevolution to pattern and process. Genetica 112-113: 145–164.
Kinnison, M.T., M.J. Unwin, A.P. Hendry & T.P. Quinn, 2001. Migratory costs and the evolution of egg size and number in introduced and indigenous salmon populations. Evolution 55: 1656–1667.
Kirkpatrick, M., 1982. Quantum evolution and punctuated equilibria in continuous genetic characters. Am. Nat. 119: 833–848.
Kondrashov, A.S. & F.A. Kondrashov, 1999. Interactions among quantitative traits in the course of sympatric speciation. Nature 400: 351–354.
Lack, D., 1947. Darwin’s Finches. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Lande, R. & S.J. Arnold, 1983. The measurement of selection on correlated characters. Evolution 37: 1210–1226.
Lande, R., O. Seehausen & J.J.M. van Alphen, 2001. Mechanisms of rapid sympatric speciation by sex reversal and sexual selection in cichlid fish. Genetica 112–113: 435–443.
Lewontin, R.C., 1974. The Genetic Basis of Evolutionary Change. Columbia University Press, New York.
Losos, J.B., T.R. Jackman, A. Larson, K. de Queiroz & L. Rodríguez-Schettino, 1998. Contingency and determinism in replicated adaptive radiations of island lizards. Science 279: 2115–2118.
Losos, J.B., T.W. Schoener, K.I. Warheit & D. Creer, 2001. Experimental studies of adaptive differentiation in Bahamian Anolis lizards. Genetica 112-113: 399–415.
Losos, J.B., K.I. Warheit & T.W. Schoener, 1997. Adaptive differentiation following experimental island colonization in Anolis lizards. Nature 387: 70–73.
Lynch, M., 1990. The rate of morphological evolution in mammals from the standpoint of the neutral expectation. Am. Nat. 136: 727–741.
Magurran, A.E., 2001. Sexual conflict and evolution in Trinidadian guppies. Genetica 112-113: 463–474.
Majeras, M.E.N., 1998. Melanism: Evolution in Action. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Maynard Smith, J., 1982. Evolution and the Theory of Games. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Mayr, E., 1942. Systematics and the Origin of Species. Columbia University Press, New York.
Merilä, J., B.C. Sheldon & L.E.B. Kruuk, 2001. Explaining stasis: microevolutionary studies in natural populations. Genetica 112-113: 199–222.
Merilä, J., L.E.B. Kruuk & B.C. Sheldon, 2001. Cryptic evolution in a wild bird population. Nature 412: 76–79.
Mousseau, T.A. & D.A. Roff, 1987. Natural selection and the heritability of fitness components. Heredity 59: 181–197.
Orr, H.A. & L.H. Orr, 1996. Waiting for speciation: the effect of population subdivision on the time to speciation. Evolution 50: 1742–1749.
Pergams, O.R.W. & M.V. Ashley, 2001. Microevolution in island rodents. Genetica 112-113: 245–256.
Polly, P.D., 2001. On morphological clocks and paleophylogeo-graphy: towards a timescale for Sorex hybrid zones. Genetica 112-113: 339–357.
Provine, W.B., 1971. The Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Quinn, T.P., M.T. Kinnison & M.J. Unwin, 2001. Evolution of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) populations in New Zealand: pattern, rate, and process. Genetica 112-113: 493–513.
Raymond, M., C. Berticat, M. Weill, N. Pasteur & C. Chevillon, 2001. Insecticide resistance in the mosquito Culex pipiens: what have we learned about adaptation? Genetica 112-113: 287–296.
Rensch, B., 1954. Neuere probleme der abstammungslehre. Ferdinand Enke Verlag, Stuttgart.
Reznick, D.N. & C.K. Ghalambor, 2001. The population ecology of contemporary adaptations: what do empirical studies reveal about the conditions that promote adaptive evolution. Genetica 112-113: 183–198.
Reznick, D.N., F.H. Shaw, F.H. Rodd & R.G. Shaw, 1997. Evaluation of the rate of evolution in natural populations of guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Science 275: 1934–1937.
Riechert, S.E., F.D. Singer & T.C. Jones, 2001. High gene flow levels lead to gamete wastage in a desert spider system. Genetica 112-113: 297–319.
Rundle, H.D., L. Nagel, J.W. Boughman & D. Schluter, 2000. Natural selection and parallel speciation in sympatric sticklebacks. Science 287: 306–308.
Schluter, D., 1996. Adaptive radiation along genetic lines of least resistance. Evolution 50: 1766–1774.
Schluter, D., 2000. The Ecology of Adaptive Radiation. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Schwartz, J.H., 1999. Sudden Origins: Fossils, Genes, and the Emergence of Species. Wiley, New York.
Sheets, H.D. & C.E. Mitchell, 2001. Why the null matters: statistical tests, random walks and evolution. Genetica 112-113: 105–125.
Simpson, G.G., 1944. Tempo and Mode in Evolution. Columbia University Press, New York.
Simpson, G.G., 1953. The Major Features of Evolution. Columbia University Press, New York.
Sinervo, B., 2001. Runaway social games, genetic cycles driven by alternative male and female strategies, and the origin of morphs. Genetica 112-113: 417–434.
Smith, T.B., C.J. Schneider & K. Holder, 2001. Refugial isolation versus ecological gradients: testing alternative mechanisms of evolutionary divergence in four rainforest vertebrates. Genetica 112-113: 383–398.
Snaydon, R.W., 1970. Rapid population differentiation in a mosaic environment I: the response of Anthoxanthum odoratum populations to soils. Evolution 24: 257–269.
Stanley, S.M., 1979. Macroevolution, Pattern and Process. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco.
Stearns, S.C., 1983a. A natural experiment in life-history evolution: field data on the introduction of mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) to Hawaii. Evolution 37: 601–617.
Stearns, S.C., 1983b. The genetic basis of differences in life-history traits among six populations of mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) that shared ancestors in 1905. Evolution 37: 618–627.
Stern, D.L., 2000. Evolutionary developmental biology and the problem of variation. Evolution 54: 1079–1091.
Tabashnik, B.E., 1994. Evolution of resistance to Bacillus thuringi-ensis. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 39: 47–79.
Taylor, E.B. & J.D. McPhail, 2000. Historical contingency and ecological determinism interact to prime speciation in sticklebacks, Gasterosteus. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 267: 2375–2384.
Trussell, G.C. & R.J. Etter, 2001. Integrating genetic and environmental forces that shape the evolution of geographic variation in a marine snail. Genetica 112-113: 321–337.
Via, S., A.C. Bouck & S. Skillman, 2000. Reproductive isolation between divergent races of pea aphids on two hosts. II. Selection against migrants and hybrids in the parental environments. Evolution 54: 1626–1637.
Wade, M.J., 2001. Epistasis, complex traits, and mapping genes. Genetica 112-113: 59–69.
Wright, S., 1968. Evolution and the Genetics of Populations. University Chicago Press, Chicago.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hendry, A.P., Kinnison, M.T. (2001). An introduction to microevolution: Rate, pattern, process. In: Hendry, A.P., Kinnison, M.T. (eds) Microevolution Rate, Pattern, Process. Contemporary Issues in Genetics and Evolution, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0585-2_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0585-2_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-3889-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-010-0585-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive