skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Experimentally simulating the evolution-to-ecology connection: Divergent predator morphologies alter natural food webs
The idea that changing environmental conditions drive adaptive evolution is a pillar of evolutionary ecology. But, the opposite—that adaptive evolution alters ecological processes—has received far less attention yet is critical for eco-evolutionary dynamics. We assessed the ecological impact of divergent values in a key adaptive trait using 16 populations of the brown anole lizard ( Anolis sagrei ). Mirroring natural variation, we established islands with short- or long-limbed lizards at both low and high densities. We then monitored changes in lower trophic levels, finding that on islands with a high density of short-limbed lizards, web-spider densities decreased and plants grew more via an indirect positive effect, likely through an herbivore-mediated trophic cascade. Our experiment provides strong support for evolution-to-ecology connections in nature, likely closing an otherwise well-characterized eco-evolutionary feedback loop.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2012985
PAR ID:
10426563
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume:
120
Issue:
24
ISSN:
0027-8424
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; (, Ecology Letters)
    Studies of eco‐evolutionary dynamics have integrated evolution with ecological processes at multiple scales (populations, communities and ecosystems) and with multiple interspecific interactions (antagonistic, mutualistic and competitive). However, evolution has often been conceptualised as a simple process: short‐term directional adaptation that increases population growth. Here we argue that diverse other evolutionary processes, well studied in population genetics and evolutionary ecology, should also be considered to explore the full spectrum of feedback between ecological and evolutionary processes. Relevant but underappreciated processes include (1) drift and mutation, (2) disruptive selection causing lineage diversification or speciation reversal and (3) evolution driven by relative fitness differences that may decrease population growth. Because eco‐evolutionary dynamics have often been studied by population and community ecologists, it will be important to incorporate a variety of concepts in population genetics and evolutionary ecology to better understand and predict eco‐evolutionary dynamics in nature. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Evolution)
    Ashby, Ben; Wolf, Jason (Ed.)
    Abstract Emerging infectious diseases threaten natural populations, and data-driven modeling is critical for predicting population dynamics. Despite the importance of integrating ecology and evolution in models of host–pathogen dynamics, there are few wild populations for which long-term ecological datasets have been coupled with genome-scale data. Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) populations have declined range wide due to devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), a fatal transmissible cancer. Although early ecological models predicted imminent devil extinction, diseased devil populations persist at low densities, and recent ecological models predict long-term devil persistence. Substantial evidence supports the evolution of both devils and DFTD, suggesting coevolution may also influence continued devil persistence. Thus, we developed an individual-based, eco-evolutionary model of devil–DFTD coevolution parameterized with nearly 2 decades of devil demography, DFTD epidemiology, and genome-wide association studies. We characterized potential devil–DFTD coevolutionary outcomes and predicted the effects of coevolution on devil persistence and devil–DFTD coexistence. We found a high probability of devil persistence over 50 devil generations (100 years) and a higher likelihood of devil–DFTD coexistence, with greater devil recovery than predicted by previous ecological models. These novel results add to growing evidence for long-term devil persistence and highlight the importance of eco-evolutionary modeling for emerging infectious diseases. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; (, Ecology Letters)
    Abstract Community ecology typically assumes that competitive exclusion and species coexistence are unaffected by evolution on the time scale of ecological dynamics. However, recent studies suggest that rapid evolution operating concurrently with competition may enable species coexistence. Such findings necessitate general theory that incorporates the coexistence contributions of eco‐evolutionary processes in parallel with purely ecological mechanisms and provides metrics for quantifying the role of evolution in shaping competitive outcomes in both modelling and empirical contexts. To foster the development of such theory, here we extend the interpretation of the two principal metrics of modern coexistence theory—niche and competitive ability differences—to systems where competitors evolve. We define eco‐evolutionary versions of these metrics by considering how invading and resident species adapt to conspecific and heterospecific competitors. We show that the eco‐evolutionary niche and competitive ability differences are sums of ecological and evolutionary processes, and that they accurately predict the potential for stable coexistence in previous theoretical studies of eco‐evolutionary dynamics. Finally, we show how this theory frames recent empirical assessments of rapid evolution effects on species coexistence, and how empirical work and theory on species coexistence and eco‐evolutionary dynamics can be further integrated. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; (, Molecular Ecology)
    Herbicides act as human-mediated novel selective agents and community disruptors, yet their full effects on eco-evolutionary dynamics in natural communities has only begun to be appreciated. Here we synthesize how herbicide exposures can result in dramatic phenotypic and compositional shifts within communities at the agro-ecological interface and how these in turn affect species interactions and drive plant (and plant-associates’) evolution in ways that can feedback to continue to affect the ecology and ecosystem functions of these assemblages. We advocate a holistic approach to understanding these dynamics that includes plastic changes and plant community transformations and also extends beyond this single trophic level targeted by herbicides to the effects on non-target plant-associated organisms and their potential to evolve, thereby embracing the complexity of these real-world systems. We make explicit recommendations for future research to achieve this goal and specifically address impacts of ecology on evolution, evolution on ecology, and their feedbacks so that we can gain a more predictive view of the fates of herbicide-impacted communities. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, The American Naturalist)
    Determining whether and how evolution is predictable is an important goal, particularly as anthropogenic disturbances lead to novel species interactions that could modify selective pres- sures. Here, we use a multigeneration field experiment with brown anole lizards (Anolis sagrei) to test hypotheses about the predictabil- ity of evolution. We manipulated the presence/absence of predators and competitors of A. sagrei across 16 islands in the Bahamas that had preexisting brown anole populations. Before the experiment and again after roughly five generations, we measured traits related to locomotor performance and habitat use by brown anoles and used double-digest restriction enzyme–associated DNA sequencing to estimate genome-wide changes in allele frequencies. Although previous work showed that predators and competitors had characteristic effects on brown anole behavior, diet, and population sizes, we found that evolutionary change at both phenotypic and genomic levels was difficult to forecast. Phenotypic changes were contingent on sex and hab- itat use, whereas genetic change was unpredictable and not measur- ably correlated with phenotypic changes, experimental treatments, or other environmental factors. Our work shows how differences in ecological context can alter evolutionary outcomes over short timescales and underscores the difficulty of forecasting evolutionary responses to multispecies interactions in natural conditions, even in a well-studied system with ample supporting ecological information. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email