Two of the great mysteries of biology yet to be explored concern the distribution and abundance of genetic variation in natural populations and the genetic architecture of complex traits. These are tied together by their relationship to natural selection and evolutionary history, and some of the keys to disclosing these secrets lie in the study of wild organisms in their natural environments. This book, featuring a superb selection of papers from leading authors, summarizes the state of current understanding about the extent of genetic variation within wild populations and the ways to monitor such variation. It proposes the idea that a fundamental objective of evolutionary ecology is necessary to predict organism, population, community, and ecosystem response to environmental change. In fact, the overall theme of the papers centers around the expression of genetic variation and how it is shaped by the action of natural selection in the natural environment. Patterns of adaptation in the past and the genetic basis of traits likely to be under selection in a dynamically changing environment is discussed along with a wide variety of techniques to test for genetic variation and its consequences, ranging from classical demography to the use of molecular markers. This book is perfect for professionals and graduate students in genetics, biology, ecology, conservation biology, and evolution.

1. Quantitative Genetic Variation in Populations of Darwin's Finches, Peter R. Grant and B. Rosemary Grant 2. Adaptation, Natural Selection, and Optimal Life History Allocation, Barry Sinervo 3. Natural Selection and the Evolution of Adaptive Genetic Variation in Northern Freshwater Fishes, Beren W. Robinson and Dolph Schluter 4. Understanding Natural Selection on Traits that are Influenced by Environmental Conditions, Ruedi G. Nager, Lukas F. Keller, and Arie J. van Noordwijk 5. Adaptive Evolution and Neutral Variation in a Wild Leafminer Metapopulation, Susan Mopper, Keli Landau, and Peter Van Zandt 6. Reaching New Adaptive Peaks: Evolution of Alternative Adaptive Bill Forms in an African Finch, Thomas B. Smith and Derek J. Girman 7. Geographic Variation in Flower Size in Wild Radish: The Potential Role of Pollinators in Population Differentiation, Susan J. Mazer and Daniel E. Meade 8. Detecting Inheritance with Inferred Relatedness in Nature, Kermit Ritland 9. Laboratory and Field Heritabilities: Some Lessons From Drosophila, Ary A. Hoffmann 10. Intra- and Interpopulation Genetic Variation: Explaining the Past and Predicting the Future, Timothy A. Mousseau 11. Adaptive Genetic Variation in the Wild, John A. Endler

"This volume is a very useful statement of the current state of field studies on adaptive variation. Several of the chapters give clear summaries of some of the definitive studies by key researchers and, as such, provide an effective shortcul to the primary literature." -- Ecology |k No