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Equation 3 · Comparing the Main Approaches to Evolutionary Biology and Ecology

What does this equation mean?

pt+1=pt(1+s)1+s ptp_{t+1} = \frac{p_t (1 + s)}{1 + s\, p_t}

Read the formula alongside the article passage below. Each part has a deeper page with its role in the equation, the supporting passage and nearby citations.

Start withp_t (1 + s)
Divide by1 + s p_t
This relates top_t+1
How to read the two sides of this formula. Follow the article passage for the meaning of each quantity.

This equation states an equality: the expressions on both sides have the same value under the article’s assumptions. Read the equation part by part below; each part has a contextual explanation and a link to its mathematical background.

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pt+1p_{t+1}

Symbol p_t+1

ptp_t+1 is the next indexed value computed from the current indexed quantity and the update terms shown on the right.

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ptp_t

Symbol p_t

ptp_t is one of the signed contributions combined to compute the quantity on the left.

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ss

Symbol s

s is one of the signed contributions combined to compute the quantity on the left.

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=

=

The expressions on both sides represent the same quantity under the stated assumptions.

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fraction

fraction

Divide the expression above the line by the one below it.

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addition

addition

Add the term after the plus sign to the term or group before it.

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subscript

subscript

The lower label selects a particular version, component, or indexed member of the quantity. For example, x₀ and xₜ can be values at different positions.

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pt(1+s)p_t (1 + s)

Numerator: p_t (1 + s)

The complete quantity above the fraction bar.

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1+s pt1 + s\, p_t

Denominator: 1 + s p_t

The complete quantity below the fraction bar; it must be nonzero for this division.

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How to interpret it

With a fixed numerator, increasing a nonzero denominator reduces the fraction. Read it with the definitions, units, and assumptions supplied by the article.

What the article says around this equation

A basic model of directional selection acting on a single locus, of the kind both the field and laboratory results above are ultimately interpreted against, describes how an allele’s frequency changes by one generation under a constant selection coefficient s favoring the allele at frequency p : pt+1=pt(1+s)1+s ptp_{t+1} = \frac{p_t (1 + s)}{1 + s\, p_t}. The equation exposes the model’s real content: selection is strongest while the favored allele is at intermediate frequency, where pt(1−pt)p_t(1-p_t) is largest, and weakens automatically as the allele nears fixation or loss, purely from the algebra of the denominator — a pattern of decelerating change that shows up empirically in both the Grants’ beak-size tracking and the LTEE’s…
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A basic model of directional selection acting on a single locus, of the kind both the field and laboratory results above are ultimately interpreted against, describes how an allele’s frequency changes by one generation under a constant selection coefficient s favoring the allele at frequency p : pt+1=pt(1+s)1+s ptp_{t+1} = \frac{p_t (1 + s)}{1 + s\, p_t}. The equation exposes the model’s real content: selection is strongest while the favored allele is at intermediate frequency, where pt(1−pt)p_t(1-p_t) is largest, and weakens automatically as the allele nears fixation or loss, purely from the algebra of the denominator — a pattern of decelerating change that shows up empirically in both the Grants’ beak-size tracking and the LTEE’s fitness trajectories, even though the two systems differ in essentially everything else about how the selection coefficient s itself is generated.

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Sources cited in the article section

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