Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals

Timothée Bonnet; Michael B. Morrissey; Pierre de Villemereuil; Susan C. Alberts; Peter Arcese; Liam D. Bailey; Stan Boutin; Patricia Brekke; Lauren J. N. Brent; Glauco Camenisch; Anne Charmantier; Tim H. Clutton-Brock; Andrew Cockburn; David W. Coltman; Alexandre Courtiol; Eve Davidian; Simon R. Evans; John G. Ewen; Marco Festa-Bianchet; Christophe de Franceschi; Lars Gustafsson; Oliver P. Höner; Thomas M. Houslay; Lukas F. Keller; Marta Manser; Andrew G. McAdam; Emily McLean; Pirmin Nietlisbach; Helen L. Osmond; Josephine M. Pemberton; Erik Postma; Jane M. Reid; Alexis Rutschmann; Anna W. Santure; Ben C. Sheldon; Jon Slate; Céline Teplitsky; Marcel E. Visser; Bettina Wachter; Loeske E. B. Kruuk

doi:10.1126/science.abk0853

Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals

Timothée Bonnet^*, Michael B. Morrissey, Pierre de Villemereuil, Susan C. Alberts, Peter Arcese, Liam D. Bailey, Stan Boutin, Patricia Brekke, Lauren J. N. Brent, Glauco Camenisch, Anne Charmantier, Tim H. Clutton-Brock, Andrew Cockburn, David W. Coltman, Alexandre Courtiol, Eve Davidian, Simon R. Evans, John G. Ewen, Marco Festa-Bianchet, Christophe de FranceschiLars Gustafsson, Oliver P. Höner, Thomas M. Houslay, Lukas F. Keller, Marta Manser, Andrew G. McAdam, Emily McLean, Pirmin Nietlisbach, Helen L. Osmond, Josephine M. Pemberton, Erik Postma, Jane M. Reid, Alexis Rutschmann, Anna W. Santure, Ben C. Sheldon, Jon Slate, Céline Teplitsky, Marcel E. Visser, Bettina Wachter, Loeske E. B. Kruuk

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

The rate of adaptive evolution, the contribution of selection to genetic changes that increase mean fitness, is determined by the additive genetic variance in individual relative fitness. To date, there are few robust estimates of this parameter for natural populations, and it is therefore unclear whether adaptive evolution can play a meaningful role in short-term population dynamics. We developed and applied quantitative genetic methods to long-term datasets from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that, while estimates vary between populations, additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. We show that these rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and hence that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1012-1016
Number of pages	5
Journal	Science
Volume	376
Issue number	6596
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abk0853
Publication status	Published - 27 May 2022

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Bonnet, T., Morrissey, M. B., de Villemereuil, P., Alberts, S. C., Arcese, P., Bailey, L. D., Boutin, S., Brekke, P., Brent, L. J. N., Camenisch, G., Charmantier, A., Clutton-Brock, T. H., Cockburn, A., Coltman, D. W., Courtiol, A., Davidian, E., Evans, S. R., Ewen, J. G., Festa-Bianchet, M., ... Kruuk, L. E. B. (2022). Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals. Science, 376(6596), 1012-1016. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abk0853

@article{8107a1ea680d4fe0bfe4fd2f7b953136,

title = "Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals",

abstract = "The rate of adaptive evolution, the contribution of selection to genetic changes that increase mean fitness, is determined by the additive genetic variance in individual relative fitness. To date, there are few robust estimates of this parameter for natural populations, and it is therefore unclear whether adaptive evolution can play a meaningful role in short-term population dynamics. We developed and applied quantitative genetic methods to long-term datasets from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that, while estimates vary between populations, additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. We show that these rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and hence that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change.",

author = "Timoth{\'e}e Bonnet and Morrissey, {Michael B.} and {de Villemereuil}, Pierre and Alberts, {Susan C.} and Peter Arcese and Bailey, {Liam D.} and Stan Boutin and Patricia Brekke and Brent, {Lauren J. N.} and Glauco Camenisch and Anne Charmantier and Clutton-Brock, {Tim H.} and Andrew Cockburn and Coltman, {David W.} and Alexandre Courtiol and Eve Davidian and Evans, {Simon R.} and Ewen, {John G.} and Marco Festa-Bianchet and {de Franceschi}, Christophe and Lars Gustafsson and H{\"o}ner, {Oliver P.} and Houslay, {Thomas M.} and Keller, {Lukas F.} and Marta Manser and McAdam, {Andrew G.} and Emily McLean and Pirmin Nietlisbach and Osmond, {Helen L.} and Pemberton, {Josephine M.} and Erik Postma and Reid, {Jane M.} and Alexis Rutschmann and Santure, {Anna W.} and Sheldon, {Ben C.} and Jon Slate and C{\'e}line Teplitsky and Visser, {Marcel E.} and Bettina Wachter and Kruuk, {Loeske E. B.}",

note = "Funding: Hoge Veluwe great tits: the NIOO-KNAW, ERC, and numerous funding agencies; Wytham great tits: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, ERC, and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).",

year = "2022",

month = may,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1126/science.abk0853",

language = "English",

volume = "376",

pages = "1012--1016",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6596",

}

Bonnet, T, Morrissey, MB, de Villemereuil, P, Alberts, SC, Arcese, P, Bailey, LD, Boutin, S, Brekke, P, Brent, LJN, Camenisch, G, Charmantier, A, Clutton-Brock, TH, Cockburn, A, Coltman, DW, Courtiol, A, Davidian, E, Evans, SR, Ewen, JG, Festa-Bianchet, M, de Franceschi, C, Gustafsson, L, Höner, OP, Houslay, TM, Keller, LF, Manser, M, McAdam, AG, McLean, E, Nietlisbach, P, Osmond, HL, Pemberton, JM, Postma, E, Reid, JM, Rutschmann, A, Santure, AW, Sheldon, BC, Slate, J, Teplitsky, C, Visser, ME, Wachter, B & Kruuk, LEB 2022, 'Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals', Science, vol. 376, no. 6596, pp. 1012-1016. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abk0853

TY - JOUR

T1 - Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals

AU - Bonnet, Timothée

AU - Morrissey, Michael B.

AU - de Villemereuil, Pierre

AU - Alberts, Susan C.

AU - Arcese, Peter

AU - Bailey, Liam D.

AU - Boutin, Stan

AU - Brekke, Patricia

AU - Brent, Lauren J. N.

AU - Camenisch, Glauco

AU - Charmantier, Anne

AU - Clutton-Brock, Tim H.

AU - Cockburn, Andrew

AU - Coltman, David W.

AU - Courtiol, Alexandre

AU - Davidian, Eve

AU - Evans, Simon R.

AU - Ewen, John G.

AU - Festa-Bianchet, Marco

AU - de Franceschi, Christophe

AU - Gustafsson, Lars

AU - Höner, Oliver P.

AU - Houslay, Thomas M.

AU - Keller, Lukas F.

AU - Manser, Marta

AU - McAdam, Andrew G.

AU - McLean, Emily

AU - Nietlisbach, Pirmin

AU - Osmond, Helen L.

AU - Pemberton, Josephine M.

AU - Postma, Erik

AU - Reid, Jane M.

AU - Rutschmann, Alexis

AU - Santure, Anna W.

AU - Sheldon, Ben C.

AU - Slate, Jon

AU - Teplitsky, Céline

AU - Visser, Marcel E.

AU - Wachter, Bettina

AU - Kruuk, Loeske E. B.

N1 - Funding: Hoge Veluwe great tits: the NIOO-KNAW, ERC, and numerous funding agencies; Wytham great tits: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, ERC, and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

PY - 2022/5/27

Y1 - 2022/5/27

N2 - The rate of adaptive evolution, the contribution of selection to genetic changes that increase mean fitness, is determined by the additive genetic variance in individual relative fitness. To date, there are few robust estimates of this parameter for natural populations, and it is therefore unclear whether adaptive evolution can play a meaningful role in short-term population dynamics. We developed and applied quantitative genetic methods to long-term datasets from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that, while estimates vary between populations, additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. We show that these rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and hence that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change.

AB - The rate of adaptive evolution, the contribution of selection to genetic changes that increase mean fitness, is determined by the additive genetic variance in individual relative fitness. To date, there are few robust estimates of this parameter for natural populations, and it is therefore unclear whether adaptive evolution can play a meaningful role in short-term population dynamics. We developed and applied quantitative genetic methods to long-term datasets from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that, while estimates vary between populations, additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. We show that these rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and hence that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change.

U2 - 10.1126/science.abk0853

DO - 10.1126/science.abk0853

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 376

SP - 1012

EP - 1016

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6596

ER -

Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals

Abstract

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