title: Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild mammal population: accounting for parental and environmental effects.
abstract: HFCs (heterozygosity-fitness correlations) measure the direct relationship between an individual's genetic diversity and fitness. The effects of parental heterozygosity and the environment on HFCs are currently under-researched. We investigated these in a high-density U.K. population of European badgers (Meles meles), using a multimodel capture-mark-recapture framework and 35 microsatellite loci. We detected interannual variation in first-year, but not adult, survival probability. Adult females had higher annual survival probabilities than adult males. Cubs with more heterozygous fathers had higher first-year survival, but only in wetter summers; there was no relationship with individual or maternal heterozygosity. Moist soil conditions enhance badger food supply (earthworms), improving survival. In dryer years, higher indiscriminate mortality rates appear to mask differential heterozygosity-related survival effects. This paternal interaction was significant in the most supported model; however, the model-averaged estimate had a relative importance of 0.50 and overlapped zero slightly. First-year survival probabilities were not correlated with the inbreeding coefficient (f); however, small sample sizes limited the power to detect inbreeding depression. Correlations between individual heterozygosity and inbreeding were weak, in line with published meta-analyses showing that HFCs tend to be weak. We found support for general rather than local heterozygosity effects on first-year survival probability, and g2 indicated that our markers had power to detect inbreeding. We emphasize the importance of assessing how environmental stressors can influence the magnitude and direction of HFCs and of considering how parental genetic diversity can affect fitness-related traits, which could play an important role in the evolution of mate choice.
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Recanati-Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 5QL, U.K ; NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield Sheffield, S10 2TN, U.K ; Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, University of Putra Malaysia UPM 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Geetha
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Annavi
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Recanati-Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 5QL, U.K.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Recanati-Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 5QL, U.K.
authors.forename: Christina D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Buesching
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Recanati-Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 5QL, U.K.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Macdonald
authors.affiliation: NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield Sheffield, S10 2TN, U.K.
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield Sheffield, S10 2TN, U.K ; Theoretical Biology, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen PO Box 11103, 9700 CC, Groningen, The Netherlands ; Behavioural Ecology and Self-Organization, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen PO Box 11103, 9700 CC, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hannah L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Dugdale
keywords: Capture–mark–recapture survival analysis; European badger; Meles meles; heterozygosity–fitness correlations; inbreeding depression; paternal effects