Data from: Fitness surfaces and local thermal adaptation in Drosophila along a latitudinal gradient

Local adaptation is commonly cited to explain species distribution, but
how fitness varies along continuous geographical gradients is not well
understood. Here we combine thermal biology and life-history theory to
demonstrate that Drosophila populations along a 2,500 km latitudinal cline
are adapted to local conditions. We measured how heat tolerance and
viability rate across 8 populations vary with temperature in the
laboratory, and then simulated their expected cumulative Darwinian fitness
employing high-resolution temperature data from their 8 collection sites.
Simulations indicate a trade-off between annual survival and cumulative
viability, as both mortality and the recruitment of new flies are
predicted to increase in warmer regions. Importantly, populations are
locally adapted and exhibit the optimal combination of both traits to
maximize fitness where they live. In conclusion, our method is able to
reconstruct fitness surfaces employing empirical life-history estimates
and reconstructs peaks representing locally adapted populations, allowing
to study geographic adaptation in silico.