Density-Dependent Selection in Evolutionary Genetics: a Lottery Model of Grime’S Triangle
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Predators As Agents of Selection and Diversification
diversity Review Predators as Agents of Selection and Diversification Jerald B. Johnson * and Mark C. Belk Evolutionary Ecology Laboratories, Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-801-422-4502 Received: 6 October 2020; Accepted: 29 October 2020; Published: 31 October 2020 Abstract: Predation is ubiquitous in nature and can be an important component of both ecological and evolutionary interactions. One of the most striking features of predators is how often they cause evolutionary diversification in natural systems. Here, we review several ways that this can occur, exploring empirical evidence and suggesting promising areas for future work. We also introduce several papers recently accepted in Diversity that demonstrate just how important and varied predation can be as an agent of natural selection. We conclude that there is still much to be done in this field, especially in areas where multiple predator species prey upon common prey, in certain taxonomic groups where we still know very little, and in an overall effort to actually quantify mortality rates and the strength of natural selection in the wild. Keywords: adaptation; mortality rates; natural selection; predation; prey 1. Introduction In the history of life, a key evolutionary innovation was the ability of some organisms to acquire energy and nutrients by killing and consuming other organisms [1–3]. This phenomenon of predation has evolved independently, multiple times across all known major lineages of life, both extinct and extant [1,2,4]. Quite simply, predators are ubiquitous agents of natural selection. Not surprisingly, prey species have evolved a variety of traits to avoid predation, including traits to avoid detection [4–6], to escape from predators [4,7], to withstand harm from attack [4], to deter predators [4,8], and to confuse or deceive predators [4,8]. -
Read Evolutionary Ecology
Evolutionary Ecology Eric R. Pianka For this generation who must confront the shortsightness of their ancestors Citation Classic, Book Review Sixth Edition out of print but available used Seventh Edition - eBook available from Google Read On Line Here (use Safari --(other browsers may not work): Chapter 1 - Background Definitions and Groundwork, anthropocentrism, the importance of wild organisms in pristine natural environments, scaling and the hierarchical structure of biology, levels of approach in biology, domain of ecology, the scientific method, models, simple versus multiple causality, environment, limiting factors, tolerance limits, the principle of allocation, natural selection, self-replicating molecular assemblages, levels of selection, the urgency of basic ecological research Chapter 2 - Classical Biogeography Self-replicating molecular assemblages, geological past, classical biogeography, plate tectonics and continental drift Chapter 3 - Meteorology Major determinants of climate, local perturbations, variations in time and space, global weather modification Chapter 4 - Climate and Vegetation Plant life forms and biomes, microclimate, primary production and evapotranspiration, soil formation and primary succession, ecotones, classification of natural communities, interface between climate and vegetation, aquatic systems Chapter 5 - Resource Acquisition and Allocation Limiting factors, physiological optima and tolerance curves, energetics of metabolism and movement, resource and energy budgets, the principle of allocation, leaf -
Quantifying the Relative Importance of Competition, Predation, and Environmental Variation for Species Coexistence
bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/797704; this version posted October 8, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Quantifying the relative importance of competition, predation, and environmental variation for species coexistence Lauren G. Shoemaker1, corresponding author email: [email protected], phone: (970)-691-0459, fax: NA 2Botany Department, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071 Allison K. Barner2;3, corresponding author email: [email protected], fax: NA 2Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720 3Department of Biology, Colby College, Waterville, ME, 04901 Leonora S. Bittleston4;5 email: [email protected] 4Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139 5Department of Biological Sciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID, 83725 Ashley I. Teufel6;7 email: [email protected] 6Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501 7Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712 Data accessibility statement: All code to replicate this study can currently be found on GitHub at https://github.com/lash1937/foodwebs_env_variation_coexistence. Upon acceptance, code will be archived on Zenodo. Running Title: Competition and predation affect coexistence Keywords: Coexistence theory, ecological networks, species interactions stabilizing mechanisms, environmental fluctuations, diamond model, storage effect 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/797704; this version posted October 8, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. -
Niche Evolution Evolutionary Biology Oxford Bibliographies
8/23/2016 Niche Evolution Evolutionary Biology Oxford Bibliographies Niche Evolution Alex Pyron LAST MODIFIED: 26 MAY 2016 DOI: 10.1093/OBO/97801999417280075 Introduction The evolution of species’ niches is a process that is fundamental to investigations in numerous fields of biology, including speciation, community assembly, and longterm regional and global diversification processes. It forms the nexus between ecological and evolutionary questions. Topics as diverse as ecological speciation, niche conservatism, species coexistence, and historical biogeography all rely on interpreting patterns and drivers of species’ niches through time and across landscapes. Despite this importance, a distinct research agenda concerning niche evolution as a discrete topic of inquiry has yet to emerge. Niche evolution is often considered as a sidebar or of secondary importance when addressing questions such as “how did two species diverge?” Basic questions such as “what is a niche,” “what is the biological basis of niche evolution,” “at what scale should we evaluate niche evolution,” and “how can we observe niche evolution at different timescales” have rarely been addressed directly, or not at all in some systems. However, various intellectual threads connecting these ideas are evident in a number of recent and historical publications, giving some semblance of form to a framework for interpreting and evaluating niche evolution, and outlining major areas for future research from an evolutionary perspective. There is a reverse perspective from the macroecological scale as well, with questions involving coexistence, distributions and ranges, food webs, and other organismal attributes. General Overview Niche evolution has rarely, if ever, been addressed in depth as a standalone topic. -
How Optimally Foraging Predators Promote Prey Coexistence in a Variable Environment
Theoretical Population Biology 114 (2017) 40–58 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Theoretical Population Biology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tpb How optimally foraging predators promote prey coexistence in a variable environment Simon Maccracken Stump ∗, Peter Chesson University of Arizona, United States article info a b s t r a c t Article history: Optimal foraging is one of the major predictive theories of predator foraging behavior. However, how an Received 8 July 2016 optimally foraging predator affects the coexistence of competing prey is not well understood either in a Available online 18 December 2016 constant or variable environment, especially for multiple prey species. We study the impact of optimal foraging on prey coexistence using an annual plant model, with and without annual variation in seed Keywords: germination. Seed predators are modeled using Charnov's model of adaptive diet choice. Our results Optimal foraging theory reveal that multiple prey species can coexist because of this type of predator, and that their effect is Storage effect not greatly modified by environmental variation. However, in diverse communities, the requirements Apparent competition Coexistence for coexistence by optimal foraging alone are very restrictive. Optimally foraging predators can have a Annual plant model strong equalizing effect on their prey by creating a competition–predation trade-off. Thus, their main Type II functional response role in promoting diversity may be to reduce species-average fitness differences, making it easier for other mechanisms, such as the storage effect, to allow multiple species to coexist. Like previous models, our model showed that when germination rates vary, the storage effect from competition promotes coexistence. -
Groundwater Storage Effects from Restoring, Constructing Or Draining
Bring et al. Environ Evid (2020) 9:26 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13750-020-00209-5 Environmental Evidence SYSTEMATIC REVIEW PROTOCOL Open Access Groundwater storage efects from restoring, constructing or draining wetlands in temperate and boreal climates: a systematic review protocol Arvid Bring1* , Lars Rosén2, Josefn Thorslund3, Karin Tonderski4, Charlotte Åberg1, Ida Envall1 and Hjalmar Laudon5 Abstract Background: Wetlands in many parts of the world have been degraded, as use of the land for food production and forestry for human needs have taken precedence. Drainage of wetlands has led to deteriorated wetland conditions and lowered water tables. Across the world, there are several programs for wetland restoration and construction, primarily to reintroduce lost habitats for wildlife, and to obtain nutrient retention functions. In Sweden, recent dry and hot summers have reinforced interest in the hydrological functions that wetlands may have, in particular as poten- tial support for water storage in the landscape and added groundwater storage during dry periods. However, the agreement on substantial efects on groundwater is limited, and there are several critical knowledge gaps, including the extent to which such efects extend outside the wetland itself, and how they vary with local conditions, such as topography, soil, and climate. Therefore, this review will address the groundwater storage efect of restoring, con- structing or draining wetlands in the boreo-temperate region. Methods: We will conduct a systematic review of the evidence, drawing on both peer-reviewed and grey literature. Articles in English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, French, German and Polish will be retrieved from academic data- bases, Google Scholar, and websites of specialist organizations. -
Dr. Michael L. Rosenzweig the Man the Scientist the Legend
BIOL 7083 Community Ecologist Presentation Dr. Michael L. Rosenzweig The Man The Scientist The Legend Michael Rosenzweigs Biographical Information Born in 1941 Jewish Parents wanted him to be a physician Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, 1966 Advisor: Robert H. MacArthur, Ph.D. Married for over 40 years to Carole Ruth Citron Together they have three children, and several grandchildren Biographical Information Known to be an innovator Founded the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona in 1975, and was its first head In 1987 he founded the scientific journal Evolutionary Ecology In 1998, when prices for journals began to rise, he founded a competitor, Evolutionary Ecology Research Honor and Awards Ecological Society of America Eminent Ecologist Award for 2008 Faculty of Sci, Univ Arizona, Career Teaching Award, 2001 Ninth Lukacs Symp: Twentieth Century Distinguished Service Award, 1999 International Ecological Soc: Distinguished Statistical Ecologist, 1998 Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, Univ Arizona: Fellow, 1997±8 Mountain Research Center, Montana State Univ: Distinguished Lecturer, 1997 Univ Umeå, Sweden: Distinguished Visiting Scholar, 1997 Univ Miami: Distinguished Visiting Professor, 1996±7 Univ British Columbia: Dennis Chitty Lecturer, 1995±6 Iowa State Univ: 30th Paul L. Errington Memorial Lecturer, 1994 Michigan State Univ, Kellogg Biological Station: Eminent Ecologist, 1992 Honor and Awards Ben-Gurion Univ of the Negev, Israel: Jacob Blaustein Scholar, 1992 -
Can More K-Selected Species Be Better Invaders?
Diversity and Distributions, (Diversity Distrib.) (2007) 13, 535–543 Blackwell Publishing Ltd BIODIVERSITY Can more K-selected species be better RESEARCH invaders? A case study of fruit flies in La Réunion Pierre-François Duyck1*, Patrice David2 and Serge Quilici1 1UMR 53 Ӷ Peuplements Végétaux et ABSTRACT Bio-agresseurs en Milieu Tropical ӷ CIRAD Invasive species are often said to be r-selected. However, invaders must sometimes Pôle de Protection des Plantes (3P), 7 chemin de l’IRAT, 97410 St Pierre, La Réunion, France, compete with related resident species. In this case invaders should present combina- 2UMR 5175, CNRS Centre d’Ecologie tions of life-history traits that give them higher competitive ability than residents, Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), 1919 route de even at the expense of lower colonization ability. We test this prediction by compar- Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex, France ing life-history traits among four fruit fly species, one endemic and three successive invaders, in La Réunion Island. Recent invaders tend to produce fewer, but larger, juveniles, delay the onset but increase the duration of reproduction, survive longer, and senesce more slowly than earlier ones. These traits are associated with higher ranks in a competitive hierarchy established in a previous study. However, the endemic species, now nearly extinct in the island, is inferior to the other three with respect to both competition and colonization traits, violating the trade-off assumption. Our results overall suggest that the key traits for invasion in this system were those that *Correspondence: Pierre-François Duyck, favoured competition rather than colonization. CIRAD 3P, 7, chemin de l’IRAT, 97410, Keywords St Pierre, La Réunion Island, France. -
Interpretation of Models of Fundamental Ecological Niches and Species’ Distributional Areas
Biodiversity Informatics, 2, 2005, pp. 1-10 INTERPRETATION OF MODELS OF FUNDAMENTAL ECOLOGICAL NICHES AND SPECIES’ DISTRIBUTIONAL AREAS JORGE SOBERÓN Comisión Nacional de Biodiversidad, México, and Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, México AND A. TOWNSEND PETERSON Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 USA Abstract.—Estimation of the dimensions of fundamental ecological niches of species to predict their geographic distributions is increasingly being attempted in systematics, ecology, conservation, public health, etc. This technique is often (of necessity) based on data comprising records of presences only. In recent years, modeling approaches have been devised to estimate these interrelated expressions of a species’ ecology, distributional biology, and evolutionary history—nevertheless, a formal basis in ecological and evolutionary theory has largely been lacking. In this paper, we outline such a formal basis to clarify the use of techniques applied to the challenge of estimating ‘ecological niches;’ we analyze example situations that can be modeled using these techniques, and clarify interpretation of results. Key words.—ecological niche, fundamental niche, realizad niche, geographic distribution The fact that, at certain scales, climatic and occurrences with data sets summarizing climatic, physical factors affect profoundly the distributions topographic, edaphic, and other ‘ecological’ of species has been known for a very long time. In dimensions (in the form of GIS layers); the last two decades, mathematical techniques combinations of environmental variables most designed to estimate the geographic extent of the closely associated with observed presences of “fundamental ecological niche” (FN), or subsets of species can then be identified and projected onto it, defined mostly in coarse-scale climatic landscapes to identify appropriate regions, as dimensions [the “bioclimatic envelope” or climatic above. -
Invasion in a Heterogeneous World: Resistance, Coexistence Or Hostile Takeover?
Ecology Letters, (2007) 10: 77–94 doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00987.x REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS Invasion in a heterogeneous world: resistance, coexistence or hostile takeover? Abstract Brett A. Melbourne,1* Howard We review and synthesize recent developments in the study of the invasion of V. Cornell,1 Kendi F. Davies,1 communities in heterogeneous environments, considering both the invasibility of the Christopher J. Dugaw,2 Sarah community and impacts to the community. We consider both empirical and theoretical 1 3 Elmendorf, Amy L. Freestone, studies. For each of three major kinds of environmental heterogeneity (temporal, spatial Richard J. Hall,4 Susan Harrison,1 1 1 and invader-driven), we find evidence that heterogeneity is critical to the invasibility of Alan Hastings, Matt Holland, the community, the rate of spread, and the impacts on the community following Marcel Holyoak,1 John invasion. We propose an environmental heterogeneity hypothesis of invasions, whereby Lambrinos,5 Kara Moore1 and Hiroyuki Yokomizo6 heterogeneity both increases invasion success and reduces the impact to native species in the community, because it promotes invasion and coexistence mechanisms that are not possible in homogeneous environments. This hypothesis could help to explain recent findings that diversity is often increased as a result of biological invasions. It could also explain the scale dependence of the diversity–invasibility relationship. Despite the undoubted importance of heterogeneity to the invasion of communities, it has been studied remarkably little and new research is needed that simultaneously considers invasion, environmental heterogeneity and community characteristics. As a young field, there is an unrivalled opportunity for theoreticians and experimenters to work together to build a tractable theory informed by data. -
New Methods for Quantifying the Spatial Storage Effect: an Illustration with Desert Annuals
Ecology, 88(9), 2007, pp. 2240–2247 Ó 2007 by the Ecological Society of America NEW METHODS FOR QUANTIFYING THE SPATIAL STORAGE EFFECT: AN ILLUSTRATION WITH DESERT ANNUALS 1,3 2,4 ANNA L. W. SEARS AND PETER CHESSON 1Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, California 95616 USA 2Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California 95616 USA Abstract. Recent theory supports the long-held proposition that coexistence is promoted by species-specific responses to a spatially varying environment. The underlying coexistence mechanism, the spatial storage effect, can be quantified by the covariance between response to the environment and competition. Here, ‘‘competition’’ is generalized to encompass similar processes such as facilitation and apparent competition. In the present study, we use a model field system of desert annual plants to demonstrate this method and to provide insight into the dynamics of the field system. Specifically, we use neighborhood competition experiments to quantify the spatial storage effect and compare it to the separate (but not mutually exclusive) process of neighborhood-scale resource partitioning. As our basic experimental design has been used frequently in community ecology, these methods can be applied to many existing data sets, as well as future field studies. Key words: coexistence mechanisms; competition along gradients; environmental variation; facilitation; neighborhood competition; spatial heterogeneity; spatial storage effect. INTRODUCTION effect, frequency dependence arises at scales that According to theory, species can coexist stably in a encompass environmental heterogeneity, for example, community if each has a positive population growth rate patches with different soil conditions. at low population density (Ellner 1989, and see review in Local resource partitioning—in which different spe- Chesson 2000b). -
Limits to Species Richness in a Continuum of Habitat Heterogeneity: an ESS Approach
Evolutionary Ecology Research, 2000, 2: 293–316 Limits to species richness in a continuum of habitat heterogeneity: An ESS approach William A. Mitchell* Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA ABSTRACT I use a co-evolutionary model to investigate the co-existence of species in ecological and evolutionary time in an environment that comprises a continuum of habitat heterogeneity. The model considers the ecology and evolution of communities organized by a trade-off in foraging costs over the environmental continuum. I assume that foragers use an optimal patch departure rule for depleting environments, where the rule itself depends on both the habitat and the forager’s phenotype, which is a heritable evolutionary strategy. I consider the effects of three variables on co-evolutionarily stable co-existence: (1) travel cost, (2) maintenance and replace- ment cost, and (3) the range of habitat heterogeneity. When travel cost is positive, it, as well as the other two variables, affects species richness. Increasing either travel cost or maintenance cost results in a decrease in richness. Increasing habitat heterogeneity can increase species richness. Keywords: co-evolution, evolutionarily stable strategy, habitat selection, species richness, travel cost. INTRODUCTION Species richness results from a combination of processes occurring at different spatial scales. At the provincial scale, immigration, dispersal and source–sink dynamics influence richness (Holt, 1985, 1993; Ricklefs, 1987, Pulliam, 1988). At the local scale, species inter- actions such as competition may be important (Rosenzweig, 1981; Tilman, 1982). To pre- dict species richness and how it is expected to change with environmental conditions requires an understanding of the importance and relative contributions of both types of processes (Holt, 1993).