The long-term stability of quantitative genetic constraints on pesticides resistance evolution

Abstract

Pesticide-resistant herbivores are among the most important and expensive obstacles to food security. Brazilian agriculture is highly productive, but large-scale cultivation, cultivation systems and inadequate use of isolated methods of insect control have contributed to the evolution of resistance in field populations. Therefore, the aim of this project is to quantify responses to consistent selection, and thereby assess the potential for intensive use of biocontrol agents to engender resistance; to assess the extent to which fluctuations in selection caused by spatial and temporal heterogeneity disrupt any directional evolution observed under consistent selection; and to quantify changes in the genetic variance-covariance matrix. (AU)