Natural Selection in the Wild.

Monographs in Population Biology #21

by John A. Endler

Natural selection is an immense and important subject, yet there have been few attempts to summarize its effects on natural populations, and fewer still which discuss the problems of working with natural selection in the wild. These are the purposes of John Endler's book. In it, he discusses the methods and problems involved in the demonstration and measurement of natural selection, presents the critical evidence for its existence, and places it in an evolutionary perspective.


Professor Endler finds that there are a remarkable number of direct demonstrations of selection in a wide variety of animals and plants. The distribution of observed magnitudes of selection in natural populations is surprisingly broad, and it overlaps extensively the range of values found in artificial selection. He argues that the common assumption that selection is usually weak in natural populations is no longer tenable, but that natural selection is only one component of the process of evolution; natural selection can explain the change of frequencies of variants, but not their origins.

Genres: Evolution, Science, Biology, Nonfiction

354 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1986

Reviews

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a good overview, though anybody who reads it I would suggest keeping in mind the changes in evolutionary thinking over time. I think he frames natural selection well, gives many general methods and such, but one must remember the time. He seems to fall for the adaptationist regime a bit strongly sometimes, showing some misunderstandings of "spandrals." While he notes some of the weaknesses with Lande & Arnolde methods, we now have more defensible methods (like Aster models developed by Geyer et al.). It is definitely good for building or solidifying a foundation in thinking about natural selection in the wild though!

One thing I will note is that sometimes Endler writes really well, concise yet understandable. Other times I feel like he skips right over things or doesn't word things the best. Be prepared for parts that are crystal clear and parts that are murky due to his writing. I read this with two other grad students in evolutionary biology / quantitative and populations genetics areas, and sometimes his writing was hit or miss.