Data from: Inheritance of material wealth in a natural population

Evolutionary adaptation occurs when individuals vary in access to
fitness-relevant resources and these differences in “material wealth” are
heritable. It is typically assumed that the inheritance of material wealth
reflects heritable variation in the phenotypic abilities needed to acquire
material wealth. We scrutinize this assumption by investigating additional
mechanisms underlying the inheritance of material wealth in collared
flycatchers. A genome-wide-association analysis reveals a high genomic
heritability (h2=0.405+/-0.08) of access to caterpillar larvae, a
fitness-relevant resource, in the birds’ breeding territories. However, we
find little evidence for heritable variation in phenotypic abilities
needed to acquire this material wealth. Instead, combined evidence from
simulations, experimental, and long-term monitoring data indicate that
inheritance of material wealth is largely explained by philopatry causing
a within-population genetic structure across a heterogeneous landscape.
Therefore, allelic variants associated with high material wealth may
spread in the population without having causal connections to traits
promoting local adaptation.