New Answers for Old Questions: The Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics of Wild Animal Populations

Recent years have seen a rapid expansion in the scope of quantitative genetic analyses undertaken in wild populations. We illustrate here the potential for such studies to address fundamental evolutionary questions about the maintenance of genetic diversity and to reveal hidden genetic conflicts or constraints not apparent at the phenotypic level. Trade-offs between different components of fitness, sexually-antagonistic genetic effects, maternal effects, genotype-by-environment interactions, genotype-by-age interactions, and variation between different regions of the genome in localized genetic correlations may all prevent the erosion of genetic variance. We consider ways in which complex interactions between ecological conditions and the expression of genetic variation can be elucidated, and emphasize the benefits of conducting selection analyses within a quantitative genetic framework. We also review potential developments associated with rapid advances in genomic technology, in particular the increased availability of extensive marker information. Our conclusions highlight the complexity of processes contributing to the maintenance of genetic diversity in wild populations, and underline the value of a quantitative genetic approach in parameterizing models of life-history evolution.