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Selection and polygenic characters.

M Slatkin
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Abstract

A mathematical model is developed which describes the effect of selection on polygenic or continuously varying phenotypic characters. For the simplest case the standard deviation of a phenotypic character in a population cannot be greater than radical2beta where beta is the expected deviation of the offspring from the average of the parents' types. This is found to carry over to density-dependent selection, and it indicates that there are limits to the amount of phenotypic diversity, and therefore niche breadth, which a population can maintain. These limits, however, are also subject to selection.

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Genetics, PopulationHumansMathematicsModels, TheoreticalPhenotypeSelection, GeneticJournal Article

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BibTeXRIS

M Slatkin. 1970. Selection and polygenic characters.. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.66.1.87

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