4.5 | Conclusions
We found evidence for different selective pressures for POP YOY across two different years that had very different environmental conditions. These results provide evidence that long-lived marine species such as POP may be resilient to natural environmental variability by maintaining a portfolio of adaptive alleles resulting from selection encountered by each cohort during their most vulnerable life stage from parturition to settlement. However, this resilience may be limited to the environmental conditions that prevailed in the last few centuries. The “selective sieve” framework may provide valuable insights into other species employing similar life history strategies. Hoffman and Sgro (2011) note that species facing strong but fluctuating selection pressures, such as YOY POP during the pelagic life stage, will have a difficult time adapting. Here, we demonstrated an exception where due to the way POP are able to maintain these selected alleles may allow them to be especially adaptable under fluctuating environmental conditions. POP have proven to be an ideal model species for investigating portfolio effects. By examining relative strengths of selection among discrete populations and adult cohorts, it allows us to jointly examine spatial and temporal portfolio effects. In the future, we plan to sample across adult populations to link genetic variation to larval cohorts and adult habitat/geographic population structure.