These models include characteristics of a population such as its mating system, ecology, and population size. This question has been of central interest to evolutionists for some time, yet we still do not know the answer. Theoretical analyses have found that evolution can favor increased recombination, but that it often favors decreased recombination. The essential problem is that recombination acts as a double-edged sword, both creating and destroying advantageous gene combinations. I am exploring a variety of possible advantages of recombination to determine which favors recombination most strongly and over the broadest range of parameters.
Demographic factors can have a large impact on the rate of adaptive evolution of a population.
Similarly, changes in population size affect the amount of genetic drift, the extent to which deleterious mutations accumulate, and the maintenance of genetic variation. We are investigating the role that a number of factors, including demography, have on the evolutionary potential of a population. The evolution of recombination in changing environments. The probability of fixation in populations of changing size. Mating systems and the evolutionary transition between haploidy and diploidy.