Climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population
Global environmental change is expected to alter selection pressures in many biological systems, but the long-term molecular and life history data required to quantify changes in selection are rare. An unusual opportunity is afforded by three decades of individual-based data collected from a declini...
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/507980/ https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13542 |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:507980 2023-05-15T13:48:08+02:00 Climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population Forcada, Jaume Hoffman, Joseph Ivan 2014-07-24 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/507980/ https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13542 unknown Forcada, Jaume orcid:0000-0002-2115-0150 Hoffman, Joseph Ivan. 2014 Climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population. Nature, 511 (7510). 462-465. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13542 <https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13542> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2014 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13542 2023-02-04T19:40:04Z Global environmental change is expected to alter selection pressures in many biological systems, but the long-term molecular and life history data required to quantify changes in selection are rare. An unusual opportunity is afforded by three decades of individual-based data collected from a declining population of Antarctic fur seals in the South Atlantic. Here, climate change has reduced prey availability and caused a significant decline in seal birth weight. However, the mean age and size of females recruiting into the breeding population are increasing. We show that such females have significantly higher heterozygosity (a measure of within-individual genetic variation) than their non-recruiting siblings and their own mothers. Thus, breeding female heterozygosity has increased by 8.5% per generation over the last two decades. Nonetheless, as heterozygosity is not inherited from mothers to daughters, substantial heterozygote advantage is not transmitted from one generation to the next and the decreasing viability of homozygous individuals causes the population to decline. Our results provide compelling evidence that selection due to climate change is intensifying, with far-reaching consequences for demography as well as phenotypic and genetic variation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Nature 511 7510 462 465 |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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Global environmental change is expected to alter selection pressures in many biological systems, but the long-term molecular and life history data required to quantify changes in selection are rare. An unusual opportunity is afforded by three decades of individual-based data collected from a declining population of Antarctic fur seals in the South Atlantic. Here, climate change has reduced prey availability and caused a significant decline in seal birth weight. However, the mean age and size of females recruiting into the breeding population are increasing. We show that such females have significantly higher heterozygosity (a measure of within-individual genetic variation) than their non-recruiting siblings and their own mothers. Thus, breeding female heterozygosity has increased by 8.5% per generation over the last two decades. Nonetheless, as heterozygosity is not inherited from mothers to daughters, substantial heterozygote advantage is not transmitted from one generation to the next and the decreasing viability of homozygous individuals causes the population to decline. Our results provide compelling evidence that selection due to climate change is intensifying, with far-reaching consequences for demography as well as phenotypic and genetic variation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Forcada, Jaume Hoffman, Joseph Ivan |
spellingShingle |
Forcada, Jaume Hoffman, Joseph Ivan Climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population |
author_facet |
Forcada, Jaume Hoffman, Joseph Ivan |
author_sort |
Forcada, Jaume |
title |
Climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population |
title_short |
Climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population |
title_full |
Climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population |
title_fullStr |
Climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population |
title_sort |
climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/507980/ https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13542 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals |
op_relation |
Forcada, Jaume orcid:0000-0002-2115-0150 Hoffman, Joseph Ivan. 2014 Climate change selects for heterozygosity in a declining fur seal population. Nature, 511 (7510). 462-465. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13542 <https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13542> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13542 |
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Nature |
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511 |
container_issue |
7510 |
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462 |
op_container_end_page |
465 |
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1766248769777565696 |