Life Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Long-Term Artificial Removal Experiment And Natural Local Extinctions On The Genetics Of An Alpine Butterfly, Keon Young Park

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In the current age of widespread anthropogenic effects across the globe, organisms are vulnerable to habitat fragmentation and localized decline in population more than ever before. Therefore, insight into metapopulation-level dynamics and the genetic basis of inter-patch dispersal is key to understanding the regional persistence of a species in the face of potential localized extinction or population bottleneck. In this study I used samples from a previously conducted localized long-term population removal experiment to investigate the effects of an extended population reductions on the genetic structure of a local population, and to explore the genetic basis of dispersal and recolonization …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Neutral And Adaptive Genetic Variation In The Alpine Butterfly, Parnassius Smintheus, Maryam Jangjoo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Understanding how much genetic diversity exists in populations, and the processes that maintain that diversity, has been a central focus of population genetics. The evolutionary processes that determine patterns of genetic diversity depend on underlying ecological processes such as dispersal and changes in population size. In this thesis, I examine the influence of dispersal and population dynamics on neutral and adaptive genetic variation in a naturally occurring network of populations of the alpine butterfly, Parnassius smintheus.

My first objective was to determine the combined consequences of demographic bottlenecks and dispersal on neutral genetic variation within and among populations. Using …

Natal Philopatry In Song Sparrows (Melospiza Melodia) Predicts Female Cellular Versus Humoral Immune Function, But Does Not Consistently Predict Parasitism, Heather L. Macgillivray

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Parasites vary geographically and dispersing host individuals may encounter different strains and wider varieties than their philopatric counterparts. Previously observed lower parasite counts in philopatric than dispersing birds have been suggested to be the result of local adaptation to parasites, but I suggest an alternative: these patterns may result from differing immune function. I used genetic assignment tests to infer natal philopatry of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia), and tested whether this predicted parasitism and innate and adaptive immune function. I found no relationship between parasitism and philopatry, in contrast to previous findings. In females, philopatry was associated with …

Ecological And Evolutionary Interactions Between Song Sparrows (Melospiza Melodia) And Their Bloodborne Parasites, Yanina Sarquis-Adamson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Local adaptation is the result of natural selection operating at a local scale, such that trade-offs in fitness across different environments result in individuals having higher fitness in their place of origin than when transported into a foreign environment. Populations may become locally adapted to features of their abiotic environment, or in the case of coevolutionary arms races between hosts and parasites, to other species comprising their biotic environment. If host populations are adapted to their local (sympatric) parasites, or conversely if parasites are adapted to their local hosts, then interactions with local parasite strains may influence the fitness consequences …

Population Genetic Structure In The Pitcher Plant Flesh Fly Fletcherimyia Fletcheri, John R. O'Leary

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The study of population genetic structure in the pitcher plant flesh fly, Fletcherimyia fletcheri, is an important step in bettering our understanding of dispersal abilities, gene flow, and behavior in the species. In this paper, an extended sampling of populations across Algonquin Provincial Park was performed to elucidate an effective scale of genetic differentiation in F. fletcheri. Genetic differentiation between sites was compared to interceding landscape composition, and digital dispersal models were developed, testing the hypothesis that F. fletcheri uses aquatic tributaries for dispersal between peatlands. Data were collected on 613 specimens from 15 populations, and population differentiation …