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SUMMARY:Playing god with guppies: testing the effects of gene flow on adapt
 ation, fitness, and population dynamics using a model experimental system
LOCATION:Biology Auditorium 136
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20170101T000000
UID:2026-05-13-07-22-00@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260513T072200
Description:The consequence of gene flow for local adaptation and fitness i
 s a fundamental\, yet unresolved\, problem in evolutionary ecology and con
 servation biology. On the one hand\, gene flow may introduce maladaptive a
 lleles into a population\, thereby reducing fitness. On the other hand\, g
 ene flow can add genetic variation to small\, inbred populations\, increas
 ing fitness through genetic rescue. This is also an important question in 
 conservation\, since augmentation of small and declining populations is an
  important\, yet rarely tested\, management tool. Here\, I will present th
 e results of collaborative field and mesocosm (lab) experiments in which w
 e used Trinidadian guppies to test the multigenerational effects of gene f
 low on phenotypes\, fitness\, and demography. In our field experiments\, w
 e found that gene flow from adaptively divergent immigrants did not disrup
 t locally adapted phenotypes. Rather\, gene flow increased individual fitn
 ess and population sizes of small\, inbred populations. In our mesocosm ex
 periment\, treatments that received divergent immigrants maintained greate
 r genetic diversity\, abundance\, and hybrid fitness than controls that re
 ceived immigrants from the source used to seed the mesocosms. Our results 
 support a growing body of research suggesting that immigrants can increase
  population fitness even when they are divergent. 4:00 pm
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