Review by Choice Review
Long-term studies on natural populations are essential for testing evolutionary theory in the field, particularly the theory of natural selection. At the same time, there are relatively few ongoing long-term studies, making this book both timely and useful to any student of natural selection. For the past 26 years, the lesser snow goose (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) population that nests along the shores of La P'erouse Bay in northern Manitoba, Canada, has been the focus of uninterrupted genetic, ecological, and evolutionary research, much of it under the direction of Cooke. This book brings together in concise form the results of this research program, which has involved approximately 40,000 individually marked geese, 45,000 nests, and 110,000 goslings. The lesser snow goose is of particular interest because it is a relatively slow-breeding species with an extensive migration and with several scattered breeding colonies. It exhibits two genetically distinct forms, the common white-plumaged morph and the less abundant "blue" or dark morph. Blue morphs have increased in the population but not, apparently, due to any effect of natural selection; their increase is due to a combination of assortative mating and differential migration, a lesson to those who would attribute all significant population changes to the actions of natural selection. The book details how such population changes have occurred and serves as an ideal model for students who seek a research program for testing natural selection in the field. Each of the 14 chapters is concise and clearly written, with a summary. All phases of the reproductive cycle--clutch size, egg size, timing of reproduction, body size, plumage characteristics, and heritability of traits--are discussed in the context of evolutionary biology. Detailed references section. Strongly recommended. Undergraduate through professional. J. C. Kricher; Wheaton College (MA)
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
