Influence of local interaction, mating, and dispersal on adaptive speciation in sexual populations

Limnological Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Irkutsk, Russia

Varvara Fazalova

Varvara Fazalova

Explaining the origin and development of species diversity is one of the greatest challenges in biology. To meet this challenge, it is necessary to achieve a better understanding of speciation processes. Past research has highlighted the importance of spatial population structure for the eco-evolutionary processes underlying speciation. The central role of geographic isolation in classical speciation theories illustrates this point. Recently it has also been shown in natural populations that non-random dispersal results in the genetic differentiation of fitness-related traits. In this project I will examine an individual-based, spatially and genetically explicit model of organisms with sexual reproduction. Focusing on sympatric conditions and uniform environments, I will investigate how conditions for evolutionary branching are influenced by spatial population structure. In particular, I will analyze the influence of the spatial ranges for competitive interaction, mate choice, and offspring dispersal.



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Last edited: 25 March 2016

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