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Genetic constraints on adaptive evolution can be understood as
those genetic aspects that prevent or reduce the potential for
natural selection to result in the most direct ascent of the mean
phenotype to an optimum. The contributions to this volume emphasize
how genetic aspects in the transmission of traits constrain
adaptive evolution. Approaches span from quantitative, population,
ecological to molecular genetics. Much attention is devoted to
genetic correlations, to the maintenance of quantitative genetic
variation, and to the intimate relation between genetics, ecology,
and evolution. This volume addresses all evolutionary biologists
and explains why they should be wary of evolutionary concepts that
base arguments purely on phenotypic characteristics.
Most organisms and populations have to cope with hostile
environments, threatening their existence. Their ability to respond
phenotypically and genetically to these challenges and to evolve
adaptive mechanisms is, therefore, crucial. The contributions to
this book aim at understanding, from a evolutionary perspective,
the impact of stress on biological systems. Scientists, applying
different approaches spanning from the molecular and the protein
level to individuals, populations and ecosystems, explore how
organisms adapt to extreme environments, how stress changes genetic
structure and affects life histories, how organisms cope with
thermal stress through acclimation, and how environmental and
genetic stress induce fluctuating asymmetry, shape selection
pressure and cause extinction of populations. Finally, it discusses
the role of stress in evolutionary change, from stress induced
mutations and selection to speciation and evolution at the
geological time scale. The book contains reviews and novel
scientific results on the subject. It will be of interest to both
researchers and graduate students and may serve as a text for
graduate courses.
Most organisms and populations have to cope with hostile
environments, threatening their existence. Their ability to respond
phenotypically and genetically to these challenges and to evolve
adaptive mechanisms is, therefore, crucial. The contributions to
this book aim at understanding, from a evolutionary perspective,
the impact of stress on biological systems. Scientists, applying
different approaches spanning from the molecular and the protein
level to individuals, populations and ecosystems, explore how
organisms adapt to extreme environments, how stress changes genetic
structure and affects life histories, how organisms cope with
thermal stress through acclimation, and how environmental and
genetic stress induce fluctuating asymmetry, shape selection
pressure and cause extinction of populations. Finally, it discusses
the role of stress in evolutionary change, from stress induced
mutations and selection to speciation and evolution at the
geological time scale. The book contains reviews and novel
scientific results on the subject. It will be of interest to both
researchers and graduate students and may serve as a text for
graduate courses.
This book aims at defining and reassessing the role of population
genetics in conservation biology and seeks to identify the progress
made in the field during the last decade. It deals with
conservation genetics from several currently researched points of
view, namely, ecological and demographic measures of rarity or
population persistence, loss of genetic variation, inbreeding,
reduced migration rates and increased selective pressures under
stress and the role of social behaviour and metapopulation
structure. The use of molecular variation as the basis of naming or
selecting target taxa and some strategic decisions about genetic
variance maximization in the conserved population or community
units are analysed. Several case studies and scenarios illustrate
the application of genetic information in conservation practices.
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