Wadgymar Susana M, Sheth Seema, Josephs Emily, DeMarche Megan, Anderson Jill
Biology Department, Davidson College.
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University.
Int J Plant Sci. 2024 May;185(3):218-227. doi: 10.1086/729360. Epub 2024 Apr 19.
An understanding of biological fitness is central to theory and practice in ecology and evolution, yet fitness remains an elusive concept to define and challenging to measure accurately. Fitness reflects an individual's ability to pass its alleles on to subsequent generations. Researchers often quantify proxies for fitness, such as survival, growth or reproductive success. However, it can be difficult to determine lifetime fitness, especially for species with long lifespans. The abiotic and biotic environment strongly affects the expression of fitness, which means that fitness components can vary through both space and time. This spatial and temporal heterogeneity results in the impressive range of adaptations that we see in nature. Here, we review definitions of fitness and approaches to measuring fitness at the level of genes, individuals, genotypes, and populations and highlight that fitness is a key concept linking ecological and evolutionary thought.
对生物适应性的理解是生态学和进化领域理论与实践的核心，但适应性仍然是一个难以定义且难以精确测量的概念。适应性反映了个体将其等位基因传递给后代的能力。研究人员通常会量化适应性的代理指标，如生存、生长或繁殖成功率。然而，确定终生适应性可能很困难，尤其是对于寿命较长的物种。非生物和生物环境强烈影响适应性的表达，这意味着适应性成分会随空间和时间而变化。这种时空异质性导致了我们在自然界中看到的令人印象深刻的适应范围。在这里，我们回顾了适应性的定义以及在基因、个体、基因型和种群层面测量适应性的方法，并强调适应性是连接生态和进化思想的关键概念。
