Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 April 2009
The effect of migration and recombination on the equilibrium structure of populations subject to a common symmetric selection regime in all habitats is studied. Attention is restricted to a class of symmetric polymorphic equilibria which have been studied in two-deme systems by Bazykin (1972) and Karlin & McGregor (1972) for one locus and by Christiansen & Feldman (1975) for two loci. With increased migration and recombination the heterozygosity increases unless it is already at the maximum level. Although the populaton system as a whole is always at linkage equilibrium, the magnitude of linkage disequilibrium in the individual demes may either increase or decrease with more migration and recombination. In general, the less the migration and the less the recombination between interacting loci, the greater the possibilities of polymorphic equilibria.