Behavioural, population, and genetic processes affecting metapopulation dynamics of the Glanville fritillary butterfly

Abstract

In my thesis I have been studying the effects of population fragmentation and extinction-recolonization dynamics on genetic and evolutionary processes in the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia). By conducting crosses within and among newly-colonized populations and using several fitness measures, I found a strong decrease in fitness following colonization by a few related individuals, and a strong negative relationship between parental relatedness and offspring fitness. Thereafter, I was interested in determining the number and relatedness of individuals colonizing new populations, which I did using a set of microsatellites I had previously developed for this species. Additionally, I am interested in the evolution of key life-history traits. By following the lifetime reproductive success of males emerging at different times in a semi-natural setup, I demonstrated that protandry is adaptive in males, and I was able to rule out, for M. cinxia, alternative incidental hypotheses evoked to explain the evolution of protandry in insects. Finally, in work I did together with Prof. Hanna Kokko, I am proposing bet-hedging as a new mechanism that could explain the evolution of polyandry in M. cinxia.

Olen tutkinut väitöskirjassani miten elinympäristön pirstoutuminen vaikuttaa pienten populaatioiden häviämisriskiin tutkimalla sisäsiitoksen seurauksia täpläverkkoperhosilla silloin kun vain yksi naaras kolonisoi tyhjän laikun. Selvitin tutkimuksessani myös, montako naarasta yleensä perustaa uuden populaation, ja mikä niiden sukulaisuusaste on. Olen myös kiinnostunut elinkierto-ominaisuuksien evoluutiosta pirstoutunessa ympäristössä, ja tutkin väitöskirjassani miksi koiraat kuoriutuvat ennen naaraita, ja miksi jotkut naaraat parittelevat monta kertaa.