Because foundation species create structure in a community, understanding their ecological and evolutionary responses to global change is critical for predicting the ecological and economic management of species and communities that rely on them. Giant kelp (
Intraspecific Genetic Variation and Species Interactions Contribute to Community Evolution
Evolution has been viewed as occurring primarily through selection among individuals. We present a framework based on multilevel selection for evaluating evolutionary change from individuals to communities, with supporting empirical evidence. Essential to this evaluation is the role that interspecific indirect genetic effects play in shaping community organization, in generating variation among community phenotypes, and in creating community heritability. If communities vary in phenotype, and those phenotypes are heritable and subject to selection at multiple levels, then a community view of evolution must be merged with mainstream evolutionary theory. Rapid environmental change during the Anthropocene will require a better understanding of these evolutionary processes, especially selection acting at the community level, which has the potential to eliminate whole communities while favoring others.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1914433
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10282331
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics
- Volume:
- 51
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1543-592X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 587 to 612
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-011720-123655
