Journal
ECOLOGY LETTERS
Volume 18, Issue 1, Pages 37-47Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1111/ele.12388
Keywords
Adaptive divergence; eco-evolutionary dynamics; gene flow; natural selection; Poecilia reticulata
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Funding
- National Science Foundation Frontiers in Integrative Biological Research grant [EF-0623632]
- National Science Foundation [DEB-1146489]
- Society for the Study of Evolution Rosemary Grant Award
- National Geographic Young Explorers grant
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
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Gene flow between phenotypically divergent populations can disrupt local adaptation or, alternatively, may stimulate adaptive evolution by increasing genetic variation. We capitalised on historical Trinidadian guppy transplant experiments to test the phenotypic effects of increased gene flow caused by replicated introductions of adaptively divergent guppies, which were translocated from high- to low-predation environments. We sampled two native populations prior to the onset of gene flow, six historic introduction sites, introduction sources and multiple downstream points in each basin. Extensive gene flow from introductions occurred in all streams, yet adaptive phenotypic divergence across a gradient in predation level was maintained. Descendants of guppies from a high-predation source site showed high phenotypic similarity with native low-predation guppies in as few as similar to 12 generations after gene flow, likely through a combination of adaptive evolution and phenotypic plasticity. Our results demonstrate that locally adapted phenotypes can be maintained despite extensive gene flow from divergent populations.
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