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Author Archives: Rob Denton
When and how to "go for the genes"
A new special issue of Molecular Ecology, entitled “Detecting selection in natural populations: making sense of genome scans and towards alternative solutions”, is coming down the line, and a few articles from that issue are starting to appear as newly-accepted. Seeing those … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, association genetics, Molecular Ecology, the journal
Tagged opinion, phenotype, QTL
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Dispersal and the rainbow trout takeover
I’m going to keep rolling on the dispersal theme from last week and share a new paper by Ryan Kovach and colleagues that demonstrates the balance between dispersal and selection. Specifically, the authors show that this balance dictates the hybridization … Continue reading
Dispersal by land or by sea
Here, we compare and contrast the traits and selective forces influencing the evolution of dispersal in marine and terrestrial systems. From this comparison, a unifying question emerges: when is dispersal for dispersal and when is dispersal a by-product of selection … Continue reading
Can hybridization save a species, genes, or both?
Climate change is real, species are going to move around, and it will definitely cause some problems. Even if you aren’t a conservation biologist, the above common knowledge has likely permeated into your scientific life at some level. What conservation … Continue reading
Understanding amphibian disease inside out
In the spring of 2010, I was doing amphibian surveys among a few wetlands in Eastern Kentucky that were known for their excellent diversity. As I sauntered up to a familiar study site, I was greeted with an amphibian massacre. Hundreds of … Continue reading
Adapting to the new wave of isolation by environment
Isolation by environment, not distance, explains the genetic relationship between an avian taxon among Madrean Sky Islands, according to a new study appearing in Molecular Ecology by Manthey and Moyle. The authors throw the kitchen sink of new analyses at a combination … Continue reading
Landscape genetics gets existential
I had a lot of ideas for future posts, but “landscape genetics” keeps pulling me back. Beyond the new methodology, reviews, and empirical findings, I suppose someone has to pump the brakes and get more existential. Rodney Dyer does just … Continue reading
Live from London: reporting from "Elements, genomes, and ecosystems"
Scientific meetings are great: see old friends, meet new colleagues, sow the seeds of collaboration, see interesting work from around the world, and so on. They’re fun, they really are. But they can be so big. The annual meetings of the … Continue reading
The diversity hiding in lizard blood
Pathogens have got this reproduction thing figured out. Clone yourself and grow populations quickly? Sure. Occasionally reproduce sexually? Absolutely. The have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too reproductive modes among biological lineages that are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction throw a mighty wrench … Continue reading
Posted in evolution, speciation, species delimitation
Tagged BPP, cryptic diversity, pathogens, species concepts
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Conversation starter: common mistakes in population genetics
When interpreting the results, it is important to focus more on biological relevance than on statistical significance. That does not mean that significance is unimportant; results that have a straightforward interpretation but are not significant should not be considered. On the … Continue reading
Posted in community, methods, Molecular Ecology, the journal
Tagged mistakes, opinion, study design
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