Niche Breadth and Abundance as Determinants of Genetic Variation in Populations of Mycophagous Drosophilid Flies (Diptera: Drosophilidae)
Lacy RC. 1982. Niche Breadth and Abundance as Determinants of Genetic Variation in Populations of Mycophagous Drosophilid Flies (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Evolution. 36(6):1265-1275
The author reviews the theory of the correlation between chromosomal variation and habitat in the species of fruit fly under study. These species feed mainly on mushrooms. Much of the work done took place in the Park. Among the mycophagous Drosophilidae in the eastern U.S., electrophoretically detectable variation correlates positively with the diversity of host mushroom species, in accordance with the niche-variation hypothesis. A correlation of genetic variation with abundance indicates that stochastic forces may also be important, but drift cannot fully account for the association between niche breadth and genetic variation. Neither the frequency of bottle-necks nor trophic resource stability seem adequate to explain the levels of variation observed in these species. Only by concentrating future efforts on organisms whose ecology is (or can be) well known, can we test how the roles of selection and drift vary with environmental, demographic or other parameters.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Lacy, Robert
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, APHN, Appalachian Highlands Network, Diptera, Drosophilidae, fruit flies, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM, GRSM-01703, Habitats, Insects (Insecta), SER, Southeast Region