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Outcomes Of Asymmetric Selection Pressure And Larval Dispersal On Evolution Of Disease Resistance: A Metapopulation Modeling Study With Oysters, Daphne M. Munroe, Eric N. Powell, Susan E. Ford, Eileen E. Hofmann, John M. Klinck

CCPO Publications

Marine diseases are a strong selective force that can have important economic and ecological consequences. Larval dispersal patterns, selective mortality and individual growth rates can modulate metapopulation responses to disease pressure. Here, we use a modeling framework that includes distinct populations, connected via larval transport, with varying disease selection pressure and connectivity to examine how these dynamics enhance or inhibit the evolution of disease resistance in metapopulations. Our system, oysters and MSX disease, is one in which disease resistance is highly and demonstrably heritable. Simulations show that under conditions of population isolation (i.e. local retention of larvae) and strong disease …