The Ecogenetic Link Between Demography and Evolution: Can We Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Data?
Ecology Letters, (2007) 10: 773–782 doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01086.x IDEA AND PERPSECTIVE The ecogenetic link between demography and evolution: can we bridge the gap between theory and data? Abstract Hanna Kokko1,2* and Andre´ s Calls to understand the links between ecology and evolution have been common for Lo´ pez-Sepulcre1,3,4 decades. Population dynamics, i.e. the demographic changes in populations, arise from 1Laboratory of Ecological and life history decisions of individuals and thus are a product of selection, and selection, on Evolutionary Dynamics, the contrary, can be modified by such dynamical properties of the population as density Department of Biological and and stability. It follows that generating predictions and testing them correctly requires Environmental Science, considering this ecogenetic feedback loop whenever traits have demographic conse- University of Helsinki, Helsinki, quences, mediated via density dependence (or frequency dependence). This is not an Finland 2 easy challenge, and arguably theory has advanced at a greater pace than empirical School of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University, research. However, theory would benefit from more interaction between related fields, as Canberra, Australia is evident in the many near-synonymous names that the ecogenetic loop has attracted. 3Evolutionary Ecology Unit, We also list encouraging examples where empiricists have shown feasible ways of Department of Biological and addressing the question, ranging from advanced data analysis to experiments and Environmental Sciences, comparative analyses of phylogenetic data. University of Jyva¨ skyla¨ , Jyva¨ skyla¨ , Finland Keywords 4 Department of Biology, Comparative analysis, density-dependent selection, eco-evolutionary feedback, ecoge- University of California, netics, experimental evolution, frequency-dependent selection, life-history theory.
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