Figure 3

Mean heterozygosity under different dispersal rules. Mean frequency (±SE) of deleterious heterozygous alleles at the steady state in populations homogeneous at the modifier locus - either FAD allele (filled markers) or UNI allele (open markers). Heterozygosity is plotted as a function of the cost of dispersal c, of the dominance coefficient h, and of the mean dispersal rate (A: α = 0.01, B: α = 0.1, C: α = 0.3). Heterozygosity decreases as h increases in all cases, because the masking of deleterious mutations in a heterozygous state is less efficient. Under both dispersal rules heterozygosity decreases with c, because fewer dispersers - which are likely to be outcrossers - survive; but the effect is stronger under FAD, because under FAD individuals carrying many deleterious mutations are more likely to disperse and pay the cost of dispersal. Comparing Figures 2 and 3, heterozygosity with FAD tends to be higher when mean fitness is lower, but not always to the same extent (see, for example, the effect of c in Figure 2C compared with Figure 3C). Note that in most cases the error bars, showing the standard error of the mean, are smaller than the markers.