Adaptation to heterogeneous resources

In patch- or habitat-structured populations, different ecological processes lead to polymorphism at different spatial scales. While spatial heterogeneity and divergent selection favors phenotypic variation between patches, local competition and negative frequency-dependent selection promotes variation within patches. So far, most of theory has looked at the effects of dispersal on divergent selection and on negative frequency-dependent selection in isolation of one another. We use a combination of mathematical modelling and computer simulations to investigate how resource variation within and between habitats influences the way natural selection shapes phenotypic variation for a consumer trait and its genetic architecture. We have shown that when resources vary both within and between patches, the co-occurrence of divergent and frequency-dependent selection can lead to phenotypic polymorphism for many levels of gene flow.