Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Individuals vary in their phenotype, and differences among individuals are what selection acts upon. The architecture of phenotypic differences how they are inherited and genetically determined sets the potential for evolutionary change. The long term goal of my research program is to understand the evolutionary dynamics of phenotypic traits in wild populations by studying the architecture of trait variation and how it relates to fitness. My students and I use microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to study heritability, the fitness consequences of inbreeding and outbreeding, and to identify the genes that underlie trait variation. This proposal applies these genetic tools to address interrelated short-term goals in four long-term studies of wild populations. The Ram Mountain bighorn sheep population has experienced intense trophy hunting and has declined since the middle of the 1990s. Rams also exhibit diminished horn growth, consistent with a response to artificial selection imposed by hunting. Over the past 10 years, sheep have been transplanted from Cadomin to provide a demographic and genetic rescue. The goal of this project is to assess the effects of genetic background, pedigree, inbreeding and specific alleles introduced during the rescue on phenotypic traits. The National Bison Range bighorn sheep population was founded in 1922 by the introduction of sheep from Banff. The population grew but suffered from inbreeding depression until it was genetically rescued through transplant of new sheep in the 1990s. The population just experienced an all-age epidemic of pneumonia in the spring of 2016, killing more than 50% of all individuals. The goal of this project is to assess whether genetic factors contribute to the survival of individuals and demographic recovery of the population as it passes through a selective bottleneck. The Kluane red squirrel population has been studied since the late 1980s and has a pedigree to a depth of ~8 generations. Theory predicts that large populations like Kluane should have high genetic load, however we know little about the importance of inbreeding depression. The goal of this project is to study the fitness consequences of inbreeding and genomic coancestry. The Sable Island grey seal population has grown exponentially over the past 50 years and is now the world's largest breeding colony. Breeding females exhibit highly repeatable maternal performance characteristics, raising the question why are some mothers better than others? The goal of this project is to estimate the repeatability of a personality trait and assess its influence on reproductive success in wild female grey seals. Assessing the architecture of ecologically important traits elevates our understanding of the evolutionary potential of wildlife populations, and will aid in predicting their responses to changing environmental conditions and human threats.