Category Archives: population genetics

Molecular ecology, the flowchart

Posted on 2 Jan, 2018 by Jeremy Yoder

Update: You can now buy a poster print of the Flowchart, with proceeds going to support The Molecular Ecologist! Towards the end of last semester my department’s evolutionary genetics journal club read Rasmus Nielsen’s terrific 2005 review of tests for … Continue reading →

Posted in association genetics, bioinformatics, genomics, howto, infographic, linkage mapping, next generation sequencing, phylogenetics, phylogeography, population genetics, selection | 2 Comments

In the aftermath of fire, bluebird species boundaries may blur

Posted on 5 Sep, 2017 by Jeremy Yoder

One of the most clear-cut reasons that species evolve to fill different ecological niches is competition. Two otherwise similar species that use the same resources experience strong selection favoring the use of less-similar resources, if they have the option. The … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, evolution, hybridization, natural history, population genetics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

When less might be more: The evolution of reduced genomes

Posted on 23 Jun, 2017 by Kelle Freel

The advent of affordable genome sequencing has provided us with a wealth of data. Researchers have sequenced everything from Escherichia coli (4.6 Mbp genome size), to sea urchins (810 Mbp), chimpanzees (3.3 Gbp), and humans (3.2 Gbp). Then there are the … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, Coevolution, evolution, genomics, microbiology, population genetics, selection | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

On hyRAD-X, another option for museum genomics

Posted on 9 Jun, 2017 by Ethan Linck

Last year, I profiled Suchan et al.’s “hyRAD” method for reduced-representation genome sequencing of degraded sources of DNA using RAD probes. While it’s too early to say whether hyRAD will be widely used by molecular ecologists looking to integrate historic … Continue reading →

Posted in genomics, methods, natural history, next generation sequencing, phylogenetics, phylogeography, population genetics, RNAseq, selection, transcriptomics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Shared patterns of genomic diversity across populations of distantly related taxa

Posted on 5 Jun, 2017 by Arun Sethuraman

Genomic diversity is shaped by the complex interplay between the effects of genetic drift and natural selection among populations. Several of these effects, especially those of linked selection at neutral sites, adaptive introgression, and barriers to migration (often called “genomic … Continue reading →

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The Hype Cycle of Ancient DNA

Posted on 20 Apr, 2017 by Patrícia Chrzanová Pečnerová

Recently I saw a graph that I’ve learnt is called the Hype Cycle and is a methodology used in assessment of new technologies and their marketing. What strikes me about it is how well it fits my own research field, … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, natural history, Paleogenomics, phylogenetics, population genetics, theory | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Like Turtles, Terrapin Research Moves a Little Slow

Posted on 4 Apr, 2017 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Marlee Hayes wrote this post as a final project for Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Science Communication course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her primary interests focus on challenges in conservation and sustainability. Previously, she evaluated fitness of post-hatchling Diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin), … Continue reading →

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Different ways to have sex, yet still be a weed

Posted on 28 Mar, 2017 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Baker (1955) noticed that when mates are lacking, the ability to undergo self-fertilization will greatly enhance colonization success. Uniparental reproduction seems to be common in colonizing species, whether it’s from a continent to an oceanic island, during a biological invasion or during range … Continue reading →

Posted in Coevolution, comparative phylogeography, evolution, natural history, phylogeography, population genetics, selection | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hybridization and adaptive radiations

Posted on 20 Mar, 2017 by Reid Brennan

As an iconic system in evolutionary biology, I’ve always been interested in African cichlids and the origins of their diversity1. These cichlids represent an adaptive radiation; they’ve evolved rapidly from a single origin to exploit and speciate into open niches … Continue reading →

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Deep in the meadow, under the … seagrass, a bed of temporally stable diversity?

Posted on 16 Mar, 2017 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Genetically diverse populations are often more stable and productive. For habitat-forming organisms, such as seagrasses, this results in increased habitat complexity and more abundant associated communities (e.g., Hughes and Stachowicz 2004, Reusch et al. 2005).  Spatial patterns of genetic diversity … Continue reading →

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