Recent Boston Globe "monarchs are threatened" article

[Stanley A. Gorodenski]

Patrick,
Yes, I agree that your point below argues against it being a relic and 
instead to be currently under selection. The question seems to be to 
what degree migratory behaviour confers a selective advantage over year 
round populations in the same locality. As a rhetorical question, is 
anyone doing research to answer this question? My off the top of the 
head theory is that the mixing (due to migration) between different 
localities gives breeding populations a new mix of genetic variation to 
cope with a changing environment, and this is an advantage over fixed 
year round populations.
Stan

Patrick Foley wrote:

>
> But the highly polymorphic nature of the migratory trait (compare CA 
> with Eastern US with Central America) argues against the theory that 
> migration is a genetical fixe for the butterfly. It appears to be 
> under selection, though the details are woefully less worked out than 
> we would like.
>
>


 
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