GENETIC DRIFT IN CLINES WHICH ARE MAINTAINED BY MIGRATION AND NATURAL SELECTION

Abstract

ABSTRACT Genetic drift will cause a migration-selection cline to wobble about its expected position. A rough linear approximation is developed, valid when local populations are large. This is used to calculate effects of genetic drift on clines in a stepping-stone model with abrupt and with gradual changes of selection coefficients at a single haploid locus. Among the quantities calculated are measures of slope, standardized variation of gene frequencies around their expected values, and correlation among neighboring populations with respect to deviations from the expected gene frequencies. These quantities appear to be primarily functions of Ns and Nm for a given pattern of selection. Computer simulation gives rough confirmation of these results. Standardized variances of gene frequencies and correlation of neighbors differ along the cline in the case of smooth changes in selection. In no case is pathological behavior of gene frequency deviations found near the boundaries of selective regions. Local behavior of gene frequencies of nearby colonies is approximately predicted by a simple adaptation of the stepping-stone theory of Kimura and Weiss. Approximate measures of the lateral variation of the midpoint of a cline and the probability of non-monotonicity are also calculated and discussed.