Microevolutionary change in wild stickleback: Using integrative time-series data to infer responses to selection.

A central goal in evolutionary biology is to understand how different evolutionary processes cause trait change in wild populations. However, quantifying evolutionary change in the wild requires linking trait change to shifts in allele frequencies at causal loci. Nevertheless, datasets that allow for such tests are extremely rare and existing theoretical approaches poorly account for the evolutionary dynamics that likely occur in ecological settings.

The role of neutral and adaptive evolutionary processes on patterns of genetic diversity across small cave-dwelling populations of Icelandic Arctic charr ().

Understanding the adaptability of small populations in the face of environmental change is a central problem in evolutionary biology. Solving this problem is challenging because neutral evolutionary processes that operate on historical and contemporary timescales can override the effects of selection in small populations. We assessed the effects of isolation by colonization (IBC), isolation by dispersal limitation (IBDL) as reflected by a pattern of isolation by distance (IBD), and isolation by adaptation (IBA) and the roles of genetic drift and gene flow on patterns of genetic differentiation among 19 cave-dwelling populations of Icelandic Arctic charr ().

Fine scale diversity in the lava: genetic and phenotypic diversity in small populations of Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus.

Background: A major goal in evolutionary biology is to understand the processes underlying phenotypic variation in nature. Commonly, studies have focused on large interconnected populations or populations found along strong environmental gradients. However, studies on small fragmented populations can give strong insight into evolutionary processes in relation to discrete ecological factors.

Experimental evidence for adaptive divergence in response to a warmed habitat reveals roles for morphology, allometry and parasite resistance.

Ectotherms are expected to be particularly vulnerable to climate change-driven increases in temperature. Understanding how populations adapt to novel thermal environments will be key for informing mitigation plans. We took advantage of threespine stickleback () populations inhabiting adjacent geothermal (warm) and ambient (cold) habitats to test for adaptive evolutionary divergence using a field reciprocal transplant experiment.