Genetic Models of Natural Populations

这个项目将开始研究母体效应的演变。数学模型将用于确定母性效应（例如哺乳动物的哺乳）的优势是如何进化的。我们将研究这些性状如何对选择作出反应，并开发方法来测量它们在自然种群中的选择和遗传。实现这两个目标的具体方法将是对最近由首席研究员及其合作者介绍的定量遗传模型的扩展，以及开发用于估计模型中出现的参数的新统计方法。这项工作的结果将具体说明产妇保健将产生和维持的条件，以及检验理论产生的假设的经验方法。

This project will initiate studies on the evolution of maternal effects. Mathematical models will be used to determine how the strengths of maternal effects (for example, lactation in mammals) evolve. We will study how these characters respond to selection and develop methods to measure their selection and inheritance in natural populations. Specific approaches that will be used to meet these two objectives will be the extention of a quantitative-genetic model recently introduced by the principal investigator and his collaborators, and the development of new statistical methods for estimating the parameters that appear in the models. Results form this work will specify the conditions under which maternal care will originate and be maintained, and empirical methods for testing the hypotheses generated by the theory.