Phenotypic, Genotypic, and Ecological Determinants of Reproductive Success in Natural Populations

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The genetic history and current structure of any population can be represented in terms of its genealogy. Genealogical analysis has become an increasingly important component of studies of mating behavior and genetic dispersal in natural populations and in the management of captive animal reproductive performance of different genotypes, in examining the impact of parental imprinting on foraging behavior, or in measuring the effects of interactions among relatives on the inclusive fitness of individuals. Most such efforts to date have maternal descent through chloroplast and mitochondria genomes, an approach that ignores paternal descent, a substantial part of the overall pedigree. The investigators have developed an alternative approach that uses nuclear markers to make statistical inferences about both maternal and paternal lineages. Their strategy is to employ enough genetic markers to exclude all but one make from consideration for each offspring. Previous work has shown, however, that a very large number of polymorphic markers is required to assign paternity categorically for each and every offspring. A strictly exclusionary solution to the problem of parentage assessment is not attainable in many interesting applications. The objective is to develop statistical/genetic estimation procedures and then to use them to analyze male reproductive contributions for Chamaelirium luteum and Silene alba. More interesting than the parentage spectrum are the phenotypic, genotypic, and ecological determinants of reproductive contributions. The investigators will develop statistical methods to elucidate such factors.