Selection, adaptation and microevolution in wild beetle (Cassida viridis) populations

The overall scope of my PhD-project is to investigate how strength of selection and genetic variance fluctuates within and between wild populations of green tortoise beetles Cassida viridis, to find out if there are specific environmental conditions that can facilitate rapid microevolutionary responses.

The evolutionary potential of a population can be decisive for whether it can adapt to a changing environment or go extinct. In some populations, rapid microevolution can happen over just a few generations, while in others there is stagnation. The speed of evolutionary change is determined by the amount of genetic variation and strength of selection acting on a trait. One reason for why populations may differ in their evolutionary potential is that selection and genetic variance covaries, either by constraining an evolutionary response or facilitating it. Such covariance between selection and genetic variance can be driven by environmental factors. Although fundamental for the understanding of evolutionary dynamics, we still know very little about natural fluctuations in selection and genetic variation in wild populations. Which is the reason that I want to investigate this.