Ecological genetics is the study ofgenetics andevolution in natural populations.
This contrasts with classical genetics, which works mostly on crosses between laboratory strains, andDNAsequence analysis, which studies genes at the molecular level.
Research in ecological genetics is ontraits related tofitness, which affect an organism's survival and reproduction. Examples might be: flowering time,drought tolerance,polymorphism,mimicry,defence against predators.
Research usually involve a mixture of field and laboratory studies. Samples of natural populations may be taken back to the laboratory for their genetic variation to be analysed. Changes in the populations at different times and places will be noted, and the pattern ofmortality in these populations will be studied. Research is often done oninsects and other organisms that have short generation times.[1]
Although work on natural populations had been done previously, it is acknowledged that the field was founded by theEnglish biologistE.B. Ford (1901–1988) in the early 20th century. Ford was taught genetics atOxford University byJulian Huxley, and started research on the genetics of natural populations in 1924. Ford also had a long working relationship withR.A. Fisher. By the time Ford had developed his formal definition ofgenetic polymorphism,[2] Fisher had got accustomed to highnatural selection values in nature. This was one of the main outcomes of research on natural populations. Ford's magnum opus wasEcological genetics, which ran to four editions and was widely influential.[3]
Other notable ecological geneticists would includeTheodosius Dobzhansky who worked onchromosome polymorphism infruit flies. As a young researcher in Russia, Dobzhansky had been influenced bySergei Chetverikov, who also deserves to be remembered as a founder of genetics in the field, though his significance was not appreciated until much later. Dobzhansky and colleagues carried out studies on natural populations ofDrosophila species in western USA and Mexico over many years.[4][5][6]
Many were influenced by Ford in the post WWII era. Collectively, their work onlepidoptera, and on humanblood groups, established the field, and threw light on selection in natural populations, where its role had been once doubted.
Work of this kind needs long-term funding, as well as grounding in both ecology and genetics. These are both difficult requirements. Research projects can last longer than a researcher's career; for instance, research intomimicry started 150 years ago, and is still going strongly.[7][8] Funding of this type of research is still rather erratic, but at least the value of working with natural populations in the field cannot now be doubted.