Abstract
AbstractGenetic diversity has been hypothesized to promote fitness of individuals and populations, but few studies have examined how genetic diversity varies with ontogeny. We examined patterns in population and individual genetic diversity and the effect of genetic diversity on individual fitness among life stages (adults and juveniles) and populations of captive yellow perch (Perca flavescens) stocked into two ponds and allowed to spawn naturally. Significant genetic structure developed between adults and offspring in a single generation, even as heterozygosity and allelic richness remained relatively constant. Heterozygosity had no effect on adult growth or survival, but was significantly and consistently positively related to offspring length throughout the first year of life in one pond but not the other. The largest individuals in the pond exhibiting this positive relationship were more outbred than averaged size individuals and also more closely related to one another than they were to average‐sized individuals, suggesting potential heritability of body size or spawn timing effects. These results indicate that the influence of heterozygosity may be mediated through an interaction, likely viability selection, between ontogeny and environment that is most important during early life. In addition, populations may experience significant genetic change within a single generation in captive environments, even when allowed to reproduce naturally. Accounting for the dynamic influences of genetic diversity on early life fitness could lead to improved understanding of recruitment and population dynamics in both wild and captive populations.
Highlights
Heterozygosity has been generally linked to individual fitness and population persistence across a wide range of taxa (Chapman, Nakagawa, Coltman, Slate, & Sheldon, 2009)
Do genetic diversity and genetic structure change from adults to offspring over a single generation? Second, is heterozygosity correlated to growth and survival of adult or juvenile yellow perch? Third, what is the relationship among different size classes of offspring to one another and to other individuals in the same cohort? These questions have important implications for our understanding of viability selection in the context of fish productivity for wild and aquaculture populations
Among life stages in Pond 16 (F3,20 = 5.169, p = .01), where adult allelic richness was significantly higher than all offspring stages (Tukey’s tests, p < .05), but there were no differences among offspring stages (p > .95)
Summary
Heterozygosity has been generally linked to individual fitness and population persistence (i.e., heterozygosity–fitness correlations; HFCs) across a wide range of taxa (Chapman, Nakagawa, Coltman, Slate, & Sheldon, 2009). Should heterozygosity differentially influence individual growth and survival during different stanzas of early life, elucidating its relative importance to individual fitness could provide more thorough and accurate estimates of recruitment dynamics as a function of viability selection. Disparate growth among individuals could originate through small random differences in size that are exacerbated as larger individuals access and potentially deplete larger food items, rendering them unavailable to smaller members of the cohort (DeAngelis & Coutant, 1982), in which case larger individuals would not be expected to be more related to one another These questions have largely been left unaddressed in both wild and cultured populations, leaving the mechanisms driving these disparate growth patterns poorly understood. Do genetic diversity and genetic structure change from adults to offspring over a single generation? Second, is heterozygosity correlated to growth and survival of adult (age 2–3) or juvenile (age 0–1) yellow perch? Third, what is the relationship among different size classes of offspring to one another and to other individuals in the same cohort? These questions have important implications for our understanding of viability selection in the context of fish productivity for wild and aquaculture populations
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