Opportunity for selection in southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina): the effect of spatial scale of analysis

• Published in: Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Galimberti, Filippo, Fabiani, Anna, Sanvito, Simona
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2002
• Subjects: Elephant Seals; Mirounga leonina; Southern Elephant Seals
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0952836902000122; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1017%2FS0952836902000122; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1017/S0952836902000122; https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1017/S0952836902000122

Abstract The opportunity for selection, I , calculated as the variance in relative fitness, sets an upper limit to the amount of adaptive change that selection may produce. Therefore, it is a potentially valuable, and frequently used, measure of the potential of action of phenotypic selection. Although many different aspects of I calculation and analysis have been explored, the effect of the spatial scale chosen for calculation received little attention, notwithstanding the growing evidence that natural populations are not homogeneous and present a hierarchical spatial structure. The effect of scale on the estimation of I was examined from data collected in two populations of southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ), an easily observable and strongly polygynous species. A significant effect of spatial scale on three important aspects of I calculation and analysis was found: dependence of I on mean fitness, between population variation of I , and effect of local demography on I .