Coupling between reproductive barriers during speciation

thomas aubier

CRBE, Toulouse, France

thomas.aubier@univ-tls3.fr

Link to seminar:

Speciation is the process by which new species evolve and relies on the accumulation of reproductive barriers between populations. Microevolution can lead to the establishment of such barriers, so that the presence of one barrier can affect the evolution of others. In particular, it is now widely accepted that the presence of reproductive isolation barriers can favor the evolution of other barriers; this is known as coupling or reinforcement. This positive coupling between barriers can potentially constitute a major process leading to speciation. However, based on the analysis of population genetics models, I will show that there may be situations where the presence of one barrier actually inhibits the establishment of other barriers, leading to 'negative coupling' that reduces reproductive isolation. Because of such processes, it may be difficult to identify how microevolution translates into speciation on a macroevolutionary scale.

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