Adaptation And Fitness In Animal Populations

Fitness and adaptation are fundamental characteristics of plant and animal species, enabling them to survive in their environment and to adapt to the inevitable changes in this environment. This is true for both the genetic resources of natural ecosystems as well as those used in agricultural production. Extensive genetic variation exists between varieties/breeds in a species and amongst individuals within breeds. This variation has developed over very long periods of time. A major ongoing challenge is how to best utilize this variation to meet short-term demands whilst also conserving it for longer-term possible use. Many animal breeding programs have led to increased performance for production traits but this has often been accompanied by reduced fitness. In addition, the global use of genetic resources prompts the question whether introduced genotypes are adapted to local production systems. Understanding the genetic nature of fitness and adaptation will enable us to better manage genetic resources allowing us to make efficient and sustainable decisions for the improvement or breeding of these resources. This book had an ambitious goal in bringing together a sample of the world’s leading scientists in animal breeding and evolutionary genetics to exchange knowledge to advance our understanding of these vital issues.

Animals and Environmental Fitness: Physiological and Biochemical Aspects of Adaptation and Ecology, Volume 2 contains the proceedings of the First Conference of the European Society for Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry held in Liège, Belgium, on August 27-31, 1979. The papers explore the physiology and biochemistry of animal adaptation and ecology and cover topics ranging from amino acid transport and metabolism during osmotic shock to the role of organic compounds in osmoregulation in plants and animals. This volume is comprised of 89 chapters and begins with an analysis of the transport and metabolism of amino acids under osmotic stress, followed by a discussion on cell volume regulation in isolated heart ventricles from the flounder, Platichthys flesus, perfused with anisosmotic media. Subsequent chapters focus on the effects of cholinergic drugs on the osmotic fragility of erythrocytes; strategies of osmoregulation in the fiddler crab Uca pugilator; ionic regulation in the African catfish Clarias mossambicus in water and air; and environmental and endocrine factors controlling osmotic water fluxes in gills of Sarotherodon (tilapia) mossambicus. The effect of seawater adaptation on the phosphatidyl-choline metabolism in the eel is also considered, along with evaporative water loss in anuran amphibians. This book will be of value to zoologists, physiologists, biologists, and biochemists.

Animals and Environmental Fitness, Volume 1: Invited Lectures is a collection of papers that tackles ecological concerns. The materials of the book are organized according the main issue of their contents. The text first tackles the chemical factors of the environment, such as water and oxygen availability, ecomones, and pollutants. The other half of the book encompasses the physical factors of the environment that include light, pressure, and temperature. The text will be of great use to scientists who study the interaction between flora, fauna, and the total environment.

Across the globe, populations of plants and animals live in clusters, but maintain a connectivity a population of populations. There are naturally occurring metapopulations, such as clusters of groupers spread across coral reefs, and there are metapopulations humans have helped create by fragmenting landscapes: stands of trees separated by roads, prairies separated by agricultural farms. As the dynamics of landscape change have accelerated, and understanding of how metapopulations functions has played a critical role in ecology and evolutionary biology. Adaptation in Metapopulations synthesizes the role of genetic interactions in adaptive evolution and their influence on the effectiveness of different types of selection. Drawing on extensive field work and lab experiments, cohered with a strong conceptual arc, the work also integrates molecular and organismal biology, as Wade explores adaptation at multiple scales, and shows how evolutionary dynamics scale from the gene to the metapopulation. "

Animals and Environmental Fitness: Physiological and Biochemical Aspects of Adaptation and Ecology, Volume 2 contains the proceedings of the First Conference of the European Society for Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry held in Liège, Belgium, on August 27-31, 1979. The papers explore the physiology and biochemistry of animal adaptation and ecology and cover topics ranging from amino acid transport and metabolism during osmotic shock to the role of organic compounds in osmoregulation in plants and animals. This volume is comprised of 89 chapters and begins with an analysis of the transpo ...

One of the greatest unmet challenges in conservation biology is the genetic management of fragmented populations of threatened animal and plant species. More than a million small, isolated, population fragments of threatened species are likely suffering inbreeding depression and loss of evolutionary potential, resulting in elevated extinction risks. Although these effects can often be reversed by re-establishing gene flow between population fragments, managers very rarely do this. On the contrary, genetic methods are used mainly to document genetic differentiation among populations, with most studies concluding that genetically differentiated populations should be managed separately, thereby isolating them yet further and dooming many to eventual extinction Many small population fragments are going extinct principally for genetic reasons. Although the rapidly advancing field of molecular genetics is continually providing new tools to measure the extent of population fragmentation and its genetic consequences, adequate guidance on how to use these data for effective conservation is still lacking. This accessible, authoritative text is aimed at senior undergraduate and graduate students interested in conservation biology, conservation genetics, and wildlife management. It will also be of particular relevance to conservation practitioners and natural resource managers, as well as a broader academic audience of conservation biologists and evolutionary ecologists.

"The biological diversity of the planet is being rapidly depleted due to the direct and indirect consequences of human activity. As the size of wild animal and plant populations decreases and fragmentation increases, inbreeding reduces fitness and loss of genetic diversity reduces their ability to adapt to changes in the environment. Many small isolated populations are going extinct unnecessarily. In many cases, such populations can be genetically rescued by gene flow from another population within the species, but this is very rarely done. This book provides a practical guide to the genetic management of fragmented animal and plant populations"--