Commentary on ‘the adaptive value of personality differences revealed by small island population dynamics’

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 383-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Adaptive Value

scholarly journals The adaptive value of personality differences revealed by small island population dynamics

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea S. Camperio Ciani ◽  
Claudio Capiluppi ◽  
Antonio Veronese ◽  
Giuseppe Sartori
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Geographical Origin ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Mainland Population ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Adaptive Value ◽  
Culture And Language

Whether differences in personality among populations really exist and, if so, whether they are only due to cultural and linguistic differences or have a genetically selected adaptive value, is a controversial issue. In this research, we compared three Italian populations living on three small archipelagos in the Tyrrhenian Sea (n = 993), with their corresponding neighbouring mainlanders (n = 598), i.e. sharing the same geographical origin, culture and language. We used an adjective‐based Big Five questionnaire in order to measure personality traits in four categories of individuals for each archipelago/mainland population: (1) original islanders; (2) non‐original islanders; (3) mainlanders and (4) immigrants to the islands. We further analysed original and non‐original islanders who had or had not emigrated from the islands. We found that islanders had different personality traits from mainlanders, the former being more conscientious and emotionally stable and less extraverted and open to experience. We also found that the subgroup of islanders whose ancestors had inhabited their island for about 20 generations in isolation (original islanders, n = 624) were less extraverted and open to experience than immigrants (n = 193). In contrast, immigrants retained the typical personality profile of the mainland populations. Lastly, emigrants from the islands (n = 209) were significantly more extraverted and open to experience than original and non‐original islanders who had never left their island (n = 741). We hypothesise that population differences in extraversion and openness to experience are more probably related to genetic differences which evolved rapidly, presumably through an active gene flow produced by selective emigration from the islands. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

scholarly journals Extreme chromosomal heterogeneity in a small-island population of Rumex acetosa

Heredity ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
J S Parker ◽  
A S Wilby
Keyword(s):  
Small Island ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Rumex Acetosa

scholarly journals High frequency of beta thalassaemia in a small island population in Melanesia.

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 357-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
D K Bowden ◽  
A V Hill ◽  
D J Weatherall ◽  
J B Clegg
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Beta Thalassaemia

Sexual maturity, factors affecting the breeding season and breeding in consecutive seasons in populations of overabundant Victorian koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)

2006 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha McLean ◽  
Kathrine A. Handasyde
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Population Parameters ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Reproductive Patterns ◽  
South West

It is important to have knowledge of basic population parameters to understand how these vary geographically and temporally and how they contribute to population dynamics. This paper investigates three of these parameters in Victorian koala populations: sexual maturity, aspects of the breeding season, and the continuity of individuals’ breeding. The investigation was carried out in koalas of known-age in two free-living (Redbill Creek on French Island and Brisbane Ranges) and one semi-captive (the Koala Conservation Centre on Phillip Island) population as well as koalas of unknown age in four Victorian populations of overabundant koalas: Mt Eccles and Framlingham in south-west Victoria, French Island in Western Port and Snake Island in south Gippsland. At sexual maturity, female koalas had a mean age (±95% confidence interval) of 24.4 months (23.5–25.3 months), a mean head length of 125 mm (124–127 mm) and a mean body mass of 6.6 kg (6.3–6.8 kg). Only 7.4% of independent females (of unknown age) were carrying young when they weighed less than 6 kg. The breeding season was more restricted in the south-west populations. At Framlingham and Mt Eccles 85% and 91% of births, respectively, occurred between December and March. At Snake and French Islands only 46% and 53% of births, respectively, were recorded in the same period. In the Chlamydia-free population (Red Bill Creek) none of the koalas that were monitored stopped breeding and then resumed breeding in a subsequent season whereas many females from Chlamydia-infected populations (Brisbane Ranges and the Koala Conservation Centre) did so. This variation in reproductive patterns is likely to make an important contribution to the variation in the demography observed in different koala populations.

scholarly journals Locally Fixed Alleles: A method to localize gene drive to island populations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaye Sudweeks ◽  
Brandon Hollingsworth ◽  
Dimitri V. Blondel ◽  
Karl J. Campbell ◽  
Sumit Dhole ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Target Population ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Threshold Condition ◽  
Gene Drive ◽  
Population Replacement ◽  
Multiple Alleles ◽  
Island Populations ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Parameter Values

AbstractInvasive species pose a major threat to biodiversity on islands. While successes have been achieved using traditional removal methods, such as toxicants aimed at rodents, these approaches have limitations and various off-target effects on island ecosystems. Gene drive technologies designed to eliminate a population provide an alternative approach, but the potential for drive-bearing individuals to escape from the target release area and impact populations elsewhere is a major concern. Here we propose the “Locally Fixed Alleles” approach as a novel means for localizing elimination by a drive to an island population that exhibits significant genetic isolation from neighboring populations. Our approach is based on the assumption that in small island populations of rodents, genetic drift will lead to multiple genomic alleles becoming fixed. In contrast, multiple alleles are likely to be maintained in larger populations on mainlands. Utilizing the high degree of genetic specificity achievable using homing drives, for example based on the CRISPR/Cas9 system, our approach aims at employing one or more locally fixed alleles as the target for a gene drive on a particular island. Using mathematical modeling, we explore the feasibility of this approach and the degree of localization that can be achieved. We show that across a wide range of parameter values, escape of the drive to a neighboring population in which the target allele is not fixed will at most lead to modest transient suppression of the non-target population. While the main focus of this paper is on elimination of a rodent pest from an island, we also discuss the utility of the locally fixed allele approach for the goals of population suppression or population replacement. Our analysis also provides a threshold condition for the ability of a gene drive to invade a partially resistant population.

scholarly journals Locally Fixed Alleles: A method to localize gene drive to island populations

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaye Sudweeks ◽  
Brandon Hollingsworth ◽  
Dimitri V. Blondel ◽  
Karl J. Campbell ◽  
Sumit Dhole ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Target Population ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Threshold Condition ◽  
Gene Drive ◽  
Population Replacement ◽  
Multiple Alleles ◽  
Island Populations ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Parameter Values

Abstract Invasive species pose a major threat to biodiversity on islands. While successes have been achieved using traditional removal methods, such as toxicants aimed at rodents, these approaches have limitations and various off-target effects on island ecosystems. Gene drive technologies designed to eliminate a population provide an alternative approach, but the potential for drive-bearing individuals to escape from the target release area and impact populations elsewhere is a major concern. Here we propose the “Locally Fixed Alleles” approach as a novel means for localizing elimination by a drive to an island population that exhibits significant genetic isolation from neighboring populations. Our approach is based on the assumption that in small island populations of rodents, genetic drift will lead to alleles at multiple genomic loci becoming fixed. In contrast, multiple alleles are likely to be maintained in larger populations on mainlands. Utilizing the high degree of genetic specificity achievable using homing drives, for example based on the CRISPR/Cas9 system, our approach aims at employing one or more locally fixed alleles as the target for a gene drive on a particular island. Using mathematical modeling, we explore the feasibility of this approach and the degree of localization that can be achieved. We show that across a wide range of parameter values, escape of the drive to a neighboring population in which the target allele is not fixed will at most lead to modest transient suppression of the non-target population. While the main focus of this paper is on elimination of a rodent pest from an island, we also discuss the utility of the locally fixed allele approach for the goals of population suppression or population replacement. Our analysis also provides a threshold condition for the ability of a gene drive to invade a partially resistant population.

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