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Evolutionary quantitative genetics (EQG) provides a formal theoretical foundation for quantitatively linking natural selection and genetic variation to the rate and expanse of adaptive evolution. It has become the dominant conceptual framework for interpreting the evolution of quantitative traits in terms of elementary forces (mutation, inheritance, selection, and drift). Despite this success, the relevance of EQG to many biological scenarios remains relatively unappreciated, with numerous fields yet to fully embrace its approach. Part of the reason for this lag is that conceptual advances in EQG have not yet been fully synthesized and made accessible to a wider academic audience. A comprehensive, accessible overview is therefore now timely, and Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics provides this much-needed synthesis.
The central argument of the book is that an adaptive landscape concept can be used to understand both evolutionary process within lineages and the pattern of adaptive radiations. In particular, it provides a convincing argument that models with a moving adaptive peak carry us further than any other conceptual approach yet devised. Although additive theory holds centre stage, the book mentions and references departures from additivity including non-Gaussian distributions of allelic effects, dominance, epistasis, maternal effects and phenotypic plasticity.
This accessible, advanced textbook is aimed principally at students (from senior undergraduate to postgraduate) as well as practising scientists in the fields of evolutionary biology, ecology, physiology, functional morphology, developmental biology, comparative biology, palaeontology, and beyond who are interested in how adaptive radiations are produced by evolutionary and ecological processes.
Introduction
1. Selection on a Single Trait
2. Selection on Multiple Traits
3. The Selection Surface and Adaptive Landscape for a Single Trait
4. The Selection Surface and Adaptive Landscape for Multiple Traits
5. Inheritance of a Single Trait
6. Inheritance of Multiple Traits
7. Modularity, Performance, and Functional Complexes
8. Drift of a Single, Neutral Trait
9. Drift of Multiple, Neutral Traits
10. Response of a Single Trait to Selection
11. Response of Multiple Traits to Selection
12. Evolution of a Single Trait on a Stationary Adaptive Landscape
13. Evolution of Multiple Traits on a Stationary Adaptive Landscape
14. Trait Evolution on Dynamic Adaptive Landscapes
15. Evolution of Genetic Variance
16. Evolution of the G-Matrix on a Stationary Adaptive Landscape
17. Evolution of the G-Matrix on Dynamic Adaptive Landscapes
18. Evolution Along Selective Lines of Least Resistance
19. Speciation and Extinction of Lineages
20. Coevolution of Species with Trait-Based Interactions
21. Coevolution of Species with Density-Dependent Interactions
22. From Evolutionary Process to Pattern: A Synthesis
Stevan J. Arnold is Professor Emeritus, Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, USA. He was made a Fellow of the AAA&S (American Academy of Arts and Sciences) in 2009 and has held the presidency of both the Society for the Study of Evolution (1998) and the American Society of Naturalists (2012). He is one of the top experts in the field and has published large numbers of highly cited academic articles in the realm of quantitative genetics.
