Mammalian Dispersal Patterns: The Effects of Social Structure on Population Genetics

by B. Diane Chepko-Sade (Editor), Zuleyma Tang Halpin (Editor)

Overview

Mammalian Dispersal Patterns examines the ways that social structure affects population genetics and, in turn, rates of evolution, in mammalian groups. It brings together fieldwork in animal behavior and wildlife biology with theoretical work in demography and population genetics. The focus here is dispersal—whether, how, and when individuals leave the areas where they are born.

Theoretical work in population genetics indicates that such social factors as skewed sex ratios, restrictive mating patterns, and delayed age of first reproduction will lower the reproductive variability of a population by reducing the number of genotypes passed from one generation to the next. Field studies have shown that many mammalian species do exhibit many such social characteristics. Among horses, elephant seals, and a number of primates, the majority of females are inseminated by only a fraction of the males. In pacts of wolves and mongooses, usually only the highest-ranking male and female breed in a given season. Although socially restricted mating tends to lower genetic variability in isolated populations, it actually tends to increase genetic variability in subdivided populations with low rates of migration between subunits. Among some species there is little dispersal and thus little gene flow between subpopulations; other species travel far afield before mating.

The contributors to this volume examine actual data from populations of mammals, the way patterns of dispersal correlate with the genetic structure of individuals and populations, and mathematical models of population structure. This interdisciplinary approach has an important bearing on work in conservation of both wildlife and zoo populations, for it shows that the home range and the population size needed to maintain genetic variability can differ greatly from one species to the next. The volume also offers a fruitful model for future research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226102689
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	10/10/1989
Series:	Effects of Social Structure on Population Genetics
Edition description:	1
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
I. Introduction
1. Dispersal and Mating Systems: Investigating Their Causal Connections
William M. Shields
II. Empirical Studies of Dispersal in Populations with Known Individuals
Ungulates
2. Demos within a Northeastern Minnesota Deer Population
Michael E. Nelson and L. David Mech
3. Reproductive Fates of Dispersers in a Harem-Dwelling Ungulate: The Wild Horse
Joel Berger
Carnivores
4. Age, Season, Distance, Direction, and Social Aspects of Wolf Dispersal from a Minnesota Pack
L. David Mech
5. Factors Influencing Dispersal in the Black Bear
Lynn L. Rogers
6. Dispersal and Intergroup Transfer in the Dwarf Mongoose
Jon P. Rood
Small Mammals
7. Natal Dispersal and the Formation of New Social Groups in a Newly Established Town of Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus)
Zuleyma Tang Halpin
8. Dispersal Patterns in Kangaroo Rats (Dipodomys spectabilis)
W. Thomas Jones
9. Population Structure of Pikas: Dispersal versus Philopatry
Andrew T. Smith
III. Dispersal Patterns and Genetic Structure
10. Patterns of Dispersal and Genetic Structure in Populations of Small Rodents
William Z. Lidicker, Jr., and James L. Patton
11. Phenotypic and Genotypic Mechanisms for Dispersal in Microtus Populations and the Role of Dispersal in Population Regulation
Michael S. Gaines and Michael L. Johnson
12. Dispersal, Population Size, and Genetic Structure of Microtus californicus: Empirical Findings and Computer Simulation
Bonnie S. Bowen and Rolf R. Koford
IV. Demography, Dispersal Patterns, and Genetic Structure
13. The Correlation between Population Structure and Genetic Structure in the Hutterite Population
Elizabeth O'Brien
14. The Genetic Demography of the Gainj of Papua New Guinea: Functional Models of Migration and Their Genetic Implications
Peter E. Smouse and James W. Wood
15. Definition and Measurement of Migration in Age-Structured Populations
Donald Stone Sade, B. Diane Chepko-Sade, Malcolm Dow, and James Cheverud
V. Mathematical Models of Population Structure
16. A Model Predicting Dispersal Distance Distributions
Peter M. Waser
17. Inferences on Natural Population Structure from Genetic Studies on Captive Mammalian Populations
Alan R. Templeton
18. Kin Selection in Complex Groups: Mating Structure, Migration Structure, and the Evolution of Social Behaviors
Michael J. Wade and Felix J. Breden
VI. Conclusions
19. The Effects of Dispersal and Social Structure on Effective Population Size
B. Diane Chepko-Sade and William M. Shields with Joel Berger, Zuleyma Tang Halpin, W. Thomas Jones, Lynn L. Rogers, Jon P. Rood, and Andrew T. Smith
Contributors
Index