Journal
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
Volume 22, Issue 1, Pages 201-213Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2008.01640.x
Keywords
allele frequency; inclusive fitness; inhomogeneous; Price's formula; relatedness; reproductive value
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The central tool for the study of allele frequency change due to selection is the remarkably simple but powerful formula of Price [Nature 227 (1970) 520]. Here, I provide what might be called a structural analysis of this formula. The formula essentially accumulates the average allele frequency change over many instances of a fitness-determining interaction, but there are different ways of organizing this average and these lead to quite different computational algorithms. I present three of these: an analysis by population state, an analysis by recipient and an analysis by actor. A comparison of these can lead to a heightened understanding of the different factors behind selective allele frequency change. In particular, I pay attention to the effects of structural inhomogeneity on reproductive value (RV) and emphasize that Price's formula measures RV-weighted allele frequency change. I examine in detail a simple example as a crucial way of cementing the different theoretical pathways. My aim was to produce a simple transparent presentation and therefore I work with a simple population structure and have omitted a number of technical details that are found elsewhere.
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