2022 journal article

Local Adaptation: Causal Agents of Selection and Adaptive Trait Divergence

Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 53(1).

Contributors: S. Sheth n

author keywords: genetic basis of local adaptation; manipulative experiment; provenance trial; reciprocal transplant experiment; target of selection; agent of selection
TL;DR: Critical gaps in understanding of the process of local adaptation are highlighted and insights emerging from in-depth investigations of the agents of selection that drive local adaptation, the phenotypes they target, and the genetic basis of these phenotypes are discussed. (via Semantic Scholar)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
13. Climate Action (Web of Science)
15. Life on Land (Web of Science)
Source: ORCID
Added: November 1, 2022

Divergent selection across the landscape can favor the evolution of local adaptation in populations experiencing contrasting conditions. Local adaptation is widely observed in a diversity of taxa, yet we have a surprisingly limited understanding of the mechanisms that give rise to it. For instance, few have experimentally confirmed the biotic and abiotic variables that promote local adaptation, and fewer yet have identified the phenotypic targets of selection that mediate local adaptation. Here, we highlight critical gaps in our understanding of the process of local adaptation and discuss insights emerging from in-depth investigations of the agents of selection that drive local adaptation, the phenotypes they target, and the genetic basis of these phenotypes. We review historical and contemporary methods for assessing local adaptation, explore whether local adaptation manifests differently across life history, and evaluate constraints on local adaptation.