Genetic polymorphism under cyclical selection in long-lived species: The complex effect of age structure and maternal selection

Abstract

Maternal selection and overlapping generations can facilitate the stable coexistence of alleles under temporally fluctuating environment. Using mathematical models, we considered the complex effect of both factors on the maintenance of genetic polymorphism in cyclically changing environments. We concentrated on asymmetric cyclic selection, which allows describing fluctuations of environments by analogy of food resources cycles with rare peaks and prolonged decline of prey abundance.The complex effect of maternal selection and overlapping generations turned out to work as follows: although overlapping generations always tend to dilate the polymorphism region, odd and even external cycles produce different types of polymorphism regions. Maternal selection under external odd cycles extends the coexistence region comparing with classic selection. Even cycles produce a part of parameter region, where the picture changes radically, and classic selection becomes more effective in maintaining polymorphism.Our models have clear biological interpretation, because we tried to model a situation demonstrated by natural populations of arctic foxes. The litter size being a major life history trait is a sex-limited female trait. It is influenced by maternal selection with cyclical fluctuations because of oscillations in food abundance. Arctic fox is a long-lived species having an age structure. The obtained results showed that compared with the simple Mendelian inheritance in the classic model, this trait inheritance allows polymorphism to be maintained in a wider range of the parameter that characterizes the advantage of survival in a small litter. Besides, adding overlapping generations to the model further broadens the parameter space for the protected polymorphism. Thus, this study shows that maternal selection and overlapping generations increases the chances of maintaining polymorphism in populations of arctic foxes.