Titre
Widespread phenotypic and genetic divergence along altitudinal gradients in animals.
Type
synthèse (review)
Institution
Externe
Périodique
Auteur(s)
Keller, I.
Auteure/Auteur
Alexander, J.M.
Auteure/Auteur
Holderegger, R.
Auteure/Auteur
Edwards, P.J.
Auteure/Auteur
Liens vers les personnes
ISSN
1420-9101
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2013
Volume
26
Numéro
12
Première page
2527
Dernière page/numéro d’article
2543
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Langue
anglais
Résumé
Altitudinal gradients offer valuable study systems to investigate how adaptive genetic diversity is distributed within and between natural populations and which factors promote or prevent adaptive differentiation. The environmental clines along altitudinal gradients tend to be steep relative to the dispersal distance of many organisms, providing an opportunity to study the joint effects of divergent natural selection and gene flow. Temperature is one variable showing consistent altitudinal changes, and altitudinal gradients can therefore provide spatial surrogates for some of the changes anticipated under climate change. Here, we investigate the extent and patterns of adaptive divergence in animal populations along altitudinal gradients by surveying the literature for (i) studies on phenotypic variation assessed under common garden or reciprocal transplant designs and (ii) studies looking for signatures of divergent selection at the molecular level. Phenotypic data show that significant between-population differences are common and taxonomically widespread, involving traits such as mass, wing size, tolerance to thermal extremes and melanization. Several lines of evidence suggest that some of the observed differences are adaptively relevant, but rigorous tests of local adaptation or the link between specific phenotypes and fitness are sorely lacking. Evidence for a role of altitudinal adaptation also exists for a number of candidate genes, most prominently haemoglobin, and for anonymous molecular markers. Novel genomic approaches may provide valuable tools for studying adaptive diversity, also in species that are not amenable to experimentation.
PID Serval
serval:BIB_F47506834ECF
PMID
Open Access
Oui
Date de création
2016-09-01T11:30:33.252Z
Date de création dans IRIS
2025-05-21T06:03:46Z