Evolutionary Change in Human-altered Environments:
An International Summit
February 8 - 10, 2007 Institute of the Environment University of California, Los Angeles
The Northwest Campus Auditorium Sunset Village, Covel Commons UCLA Campus
T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Acknowledgments ……………………………………………………………1
Location of Activities ………………………..………………………………..3
Maps……………………………………………………………………………...4
Program ……..…………………………………………………………………..7
Speakers’ Affiliations………………………………………………………….15
Oral Presentation Abstracts (in order of presentation) …….…………19
Posters Presentations (in numerical order) ………………………………41
Poster Presentation Abstracts (in alphabetical order) ..………………51
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
Evolutionary Change in Human-altered Environments: An International Summit Institute of the Environment University of California, Los Angeles February 8 – 10, 2007
M AJOR S PONSORS
Blackwell Publishing National Science Foundation Southern California Edison
Sponsors
Amgen Applied Biosystems California Department of Fish and Game California Department of Parks and Recreation Genetic Resources Conservation Program, University of California, Davis Gresser Family The Nature Conservancy US Fish and Wildlife Service US Geological Survey Biological Resources Division
Cooperating Organizations
California Water Resources Control Board San Francisco Estuary Institute
L OCATION OF A CTIVITIES
Registration: Lobby of the Northwest Campus Auditorium
Breakfast: Lobby of the Northwest Campus Auditorium
Breaks: Lobby of the Northwest Campus Auditorium
Vice Chancellor’s Reception: Covel Commons, Grand Horizon Room Terrace
Plenary Sessions: Northwest Campus Auditorium
Lunches: Covel Commons, Grand Horizon Room (3rd floor)
Speaker Working Sessions: Covel Commons, West Coast Room (3rd floor) (Speakers only)
Posters: Covel Commons, Grand Horizon Room (3rd floor)
Poster Reception: Covel Commons, Grand Horizon Room (3rd floor)
Saturday Evening Banquet: Tom Bradley International Hall, International Room (upper level)
A B C D E F G
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BLDG. CONSTRUCTION WILSHIRE PROJECTS CENTER 9 TO 405 FREEWAY August 2006 Edition Evolutionary Change in Human-altered Environments: An International Summit Northwest Campus Auditorium (Aud) Grand Horizon Room in Covel Commons (GHR) West Coast Room in Covel Commons (WCR) Tom Bradley International Hall (TBH)
Thursday, February 8, 2007
TIME EVENT SPEAKER LOCATION
7:00 AM REGISTRATION Aud
CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST Aud Lobby
9:00 WELCOME Aud
Thomas Smith, Summit Co-organizer
Mary D. Nichols, Director, Institute of the Environment
Norman Abrams, Acting Chancellor, UCLA
Roberto Peccei, Vice Chancellor for Research, UCLA
Louis Bernatchez, Summit Co-organizer
KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
9:20 Evolutionary Biology and Practical Conservation: Georgina Mace Aud Bridging a Widening Gap
9:50 The Speed of Adaptation Loren Rieseberg Aud
10:20 Break Aud Lobby
Session I – Captive Breeding and Exploitation
10:40 Genetic Adaptation to Captivity in Species Richard Frankham Aud Conservation Programs
11:00 How Few Whales Were There After Whaling? C. Scott Baker Aud
11:20 Consequences of Selective Harvesting David Coltman Aud
11:40 Evolutionary Consequences of Anthropogenic Robin Waples Aud Changes on Long-Term Viability of Pacific Salmon and Steelhead TIME EVENT SPEAKER LOCATION
12:00 PM Lunch GHR
1:00 Posters available for viewing GHR
1:20 Fishing, Farming, and Their Evolutionary Jeffrey A. Hutchings Aud Consequences to Fishes
1:40 Purging of Inbreeding Depression and the Paul Leberg Aud Management of Captive Populations
2:00 Detecting Hybridization Between Wild Species and Ettore Randi Aud Their Domesticated Relatives
2:20 Downsizing Nature: Ecological and Evolutionary Kaustuv Roy Aud Consequences of Size–selective Harvesting
2:40 Captive Breeding and the Recovery of Mexican and Phil Hedrick Aud Red Wolves
3:00 Break Aud Lobby
3:20 The Effect of Extirpation and Reintroduction on Robert Wayne Aud Genetic Variability of the Gray Wolf
3:40 Conservation Genetics of Domestic Bovidae (Cattle, Pierre Taberlet Aud Sheep, Goats)
4:00 The Functional Genomics of Rapid Evolutionary Louis Bernatchez Aud Changes Between Domesticated and Wild Populations
POLICY PRESENTATION
4:20 Implications of Research Findings for Fish and Ryan Broddrick Aud Wildlife Management
4:40 Questions and Discussion
5:00 Speaker’s Working Session I – Co-chairs: WCR Captive Breeding and Exploitation Andre Talbot and Ray Sauvajot
6:00 VICE CHANCELLOR’S RECEPTION GHR Terrace
Friday, February 9, 2007
TIME EVENT SPEAKER LOCATION
7:00 REGISTRATION Aud
POSTERS AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST GHR
Session II – Habitat Degradation and Environmental and Climate Change
8:00 Environmental Change and Evolution: Disentangling Juha A. Merilä Aud Environmental and Genetic Responses
8:20 Experimental Studies of Evolution in Guppies – A David Reznick Aud Model for Understanding the Role of Predators in Structuring Natural Communities
8:40 Adaptation of Arabidopsis halleri (Brassicaceae) to Pierre Saumitou-Laprade Sites Recently Polluted By High Amounts of Zinc Aud and Cadmium
9:00 Speciation Reversal in Human-altered Environments Ole Seehausen Aud
9:20 How Much Acoustic Space Do We Leave to the Hans Slabbekoorn Aud Birds?
9:40 Do Landscape Changes Threaten Regions of Victoria Sork Aud Evolutionary Interest in California Valley Oak (Quercus lobata)?
10:00 Break Aud Lobby
10:20 Microevolutionary Consequences of Human Thomas Smith Aud Disturbance in a Rainforest Species from Central Africa
10:40 Natural and Human-Mediated Biodiversity Dynamics Rosemary Gillespie Aud in Isolated Island Communities: Using Current Patterns Towards a General Understanding of Process
11:00 Changing Climate and Changing Genetic Dany Garant Aud (Co)Variance of Reproductive Traits in a Wild Bird Population
11:20 Climate Change Leads to Selection on Temperature Marcel Visser Aud Sensitivity of Avian Timing of Reproduction
TIME EVENT SPEAKER LOCATION
11:40 Genetic Response to Rapid Climate Change William Bradshaw Aud
12:00 PM Local Adaptation as Potential Constraint on Jessica Hellmann Aud Geographic Range Shifts Under Climate Change: Molecular Evidence of Divergence and Field Tests of Population Fitness in Two Contrasting Butterfly Species
POLICY PRESENTATION
12:20 Is Ignoring Evolution Intelligent Design for Mark Reynolds Aud Conservation?
12:40 Lunch GHR
Speaker’s Working Session II – Chair: Jerry Schubel WCR Habitat Degradation and Climate Changes
Session III. Invasive Species and Pathogens
2:00 The Evolution of Adaptation During Plant Invasion Spencer Barrett Aud
2:20 Founding Events in Invasions: Genetic Patterns and Katrina Dlugosch Aud Evolutionary Consequences
2:40 Species Introductions, the Loss of Geographic Craig Benkman Aud Variation, and the Elimination of Coevolutionary Diversification
3:00 Break Aud Lobby
3:20 Predicting the Forms and Foundations of Rapid Scott Carroll Aud Adaptation in Persisting Populations
3:40 Exploring Genomic Targets of Selection Across Carol Eunmi Lee Aud Independent Invasions Into Novel Environments
4:00 The Evolutionary Consequences of Social Insect Andrew Suarez and Aud Invasions Neil Tsutsui
4:20 Human Impacts on Rates of Phenotypic Change in Andrew Hendry Aud Wild Animal Populations
TIME EVENT SPEAKER LOCATION
4:40 Hybridization as a Route to Invasion Kenneth Whitney Aud
5:00 POSTER SESSION AND WINE AND CHEESE RECEPTION GHR
8:00 Adjourn GHR
Saturday, February 10, 2007
TIME EVENT SPEAKER LOCATION
7:40 REGISTRATION Aud
POSTERS AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST GHR
Session III. Invasive Species and Pathogens (continued)
8:40 Rapid Evolution as an Ecological Determinant of Michael Kinnison Aud Invasion: Experimental Evaluation in the Wild
9:00 Microevolution in Chicago-area Mice Oliver Pergams Aud
9:20 Predicting and Protecting Evolutionary Hotspots in Craig Moritz Aud California
9:40 Trouble in Paradise: Interactions of Invasive Robert Fleischer Aud Vectors, Introduced Disease and an Endangered Native Avifauna
10:00 Break Aud Lobby
10:20 Host-parasite Interactions: Evolutionary Genetics Scott Edwards Aud and Gene Expression Changes in House Finches Induced by an Expanding Bacterial Pathogen
10:40 Human Activities and Parasite Microevolution Frédéric Thomas Aud
POLICY PRESENTATION
11:00 Current Approaches to Invasive Species and Robert Mangold Aud Pathogen Prevention and Eradication Efforts in America’s Forests
11:20 Q & A, Discussion Aud
12:00 PM Lunch GHR
Speaker’s Working Group III – Co-chairs: WCR Invasive Species and Pathogens Gabriela Chavarria and Ellie Cohen
TIME EVENT SPEAKER LOCATION
1:20 DISCUSSION SESSION: Aud
Reports from the Working Sessions and Synthesis Moderator: Sylvia Fallon Panelists:
Conservation Implications of Evolutionary Effects of Andre Talbot Captive Breeding and Exploitation
Conservation Implications of the Evolutionary Jerry Schubel Effects of Habitat Degradation and Climate Change
Conservation Implications of Evolutionary Effects of Gabriela Chavarria Invasive Species and Pathogens and Ellie Cohen
Summary and Synthesis Tom Lacher and Ray Sauvajot
3:00 Break Aud Lobby
3:20 INTEGRATING SCIENCE AND POLICY: Aud
Using Evolutionary Science in Conservation Policy, Planning, Practice, and Management Moderator: Mary D. Nichols Panelists:
Gabriela Chavarria Richard Rayburn Ellie Cohen John Robinson Tom Lacher Ray Sauvajot Felicia Marcus Jerry Schubel David Olson Andre Talbot
5:00 Adjourn
Concluding Reception, Banquet, and Keynote Speech
6:00 Reception TBH
7:00 Dinner TBH
Keynote Address:
Translating Science Into Policy Mary D. Nichols Director, Institute of the Environment
S PEAKERS
C. Scott Baker, Marine Mammal Program and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, USA, and School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Spencer Barrett, Department of Botany, University of Toronto, Canada
Craig Benkman, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, USA
Louis Bernatchez, Department of Biology, Université Laval, Canada
William Bradshaw, Department of Biology and Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Oregon, USA
Ryan Broddrick, Director, California Department of Fish and Game, USA
Scott Carroll, Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, USA
David Coltman, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada
Troy Day, Department of Mathematics and Statistics and Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Canada
Katrina M. Dlugosch, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
Scott Edwards, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, USA
Robert Fleischer, Genetics Program, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, USA
Richard Frankham, School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia
Dany Garant, Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada
Rosemary Gillespie, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Phil Hedrick, Department of Biology, Arizona State University, USA
Jessica Hellmann, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notr e Dame, USA
Andrew Hendry, Department of Biology, McGill University, Canada
Jeffrey A. Hutchings, Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Canada
Michael Kinnison, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maine, USA
Scott Layne, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Paul Leberg, Department of Biology, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, USA
Carol Eunmi Lee, Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, USA
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
Georgina Mace, National Environment Research Council Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Robert Mangold, Director, Forest Health Protection, United States National Forest Service, USA
Juha A. Merilä, Department of Ecology and Systematics, University of Helsinki, Finland
Craig Moritz, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Mary D. Nichols, Institute of the Environment and School of Law, University of California, Los Angeles; former Secretary of Resources for the State of California, USA
Oliver Pergams, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Ettore Randi, Istituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica, Italy
Mark Reynolds, The Nature Conservancy, California Program, USA
David Reznick, Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, USA
Loren Rieseberg, Department of Biology, University of Indiana, USA
Kaustuv Roy, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, USA
Pierre Saumitou-Laprade, Laboratoire de Genetique et Evolution des Populations Vegetales, Université de Lille 1/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
Ole Seehausen, Institute of Zoology, University of Bern, Switzerland
Hans Slabbekoorn, Behavioural Biology, Leiden University, the Netherlands
Thomas Smith, Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Victoria Sork, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Andrew Suarez, Department of Entomology and Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Pierre Taberlet, Laboratoire de Ecologie Alpine, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Joseph Fourier, France
Frédéric Thomas, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Montpellier, France
Neil D. Tsutsui, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, USA
Marcel Visser, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, the Netherlands
Robin Waples, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, USA
Robert Wayne, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Kenneth Whitney, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, USA
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
P OLICY A DVISORY C OMMITTEE
Michael Bean, Attorney, Chair, Wildlife Program, Environmental Defense, USA
Ryan Broddrick, Director, California Department of Fish and Game, USA
Gabriela Chavarria, Director, Natural Resources Defense Council Science Center, USA
Ellie Cohen, Executive Director, PRBO Conservation Science, USA
Frank Davis, Professor, Landscape Ecology and Conservation Planning, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara
Sylvia Fallon, Conservation Genetics Fellow, Natural Resources Defense Council, USA
Madelyn Glickfeld, Lecturer in Conservation Planning, Institute of the Environment, University of California, Los Angeles and former Assistant Secretary, California Resources Agency, USA
David Hayes, Global Chair of the Environment, Land & Resources Department, Latham and Watkins, USA
Terri Kempton, California Invasive Species Project Manager, Sustainable Conservation, USA
Charles Kennel, Distinguished Professor, Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Scripps Institute, University of California, San Diego, USA
Tim King, United States Geological Survey-Biological Resources Division (USGS-BRD), Leetown Science Center, Aquatic Ecology Branch, USA
Tom Lacher, Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, USA
Robert Mangold, Director, Forest Health Protection, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Forest Service, U.S.A.
Felicia Marcus, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Trust for Public Land, USA
Mary D. Nichols, Director, Institute of the Environment, University of California, Los Angeles, USA (Policy Advisory Committee Chair)
David Olson, Director of Science and Stewardship, Irvine Ranch Land Reserve Trust, USA
Richard Rayburn, Chief of Resource Management, California Department of Parks and Recreation, USA
Mark Reynolds, Senior Ecologist for Emerging Projects, The Nature Conservancy, California Program, USA
John Robinson, Executive Vice President for Conservation and Science, Wildlife Conservation Society, USA
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
Ray Sauvajot, Chief of Planning, Science and Resource Management, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, USA
Jerry Schubel, Chief Executive Officer and President, Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, USA
André Talbot, Section Head, Fluvial Ecosystems Research, Aquatic Ecosystem Protection Research Division, Environment Canada/Environnement Canada
Woody Turner, Program Scientist, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
ORAL PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS (In order of presentation)
Thursday Georgina M. Mace and Andy Purvis. Evolutionary biology and practical conservation: bridging 9:20 AM a widening gap. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, and Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, United Kingdom.
In this talk we will present a brief review of the extent to which evolutionary principles have been integrated into practical conservation planning. This will cover a range of different scales and processes, but largely focus on species conservation. The assessment will include the following: assessing the state of wild nature, setting conservation priorities especially at global and regional levels, developing species recovery plans, predicting responses to threatening processes (e.g. climate change, harvesting, pollution, disease), planning for environmental change (especially the role of protected areas). Although the intentions are often there to incorporate evolutionary change, there are few good examples of this being successfully achieved in practice. The obstacles to better integration will be reviewed. These often hinge around the issues of different perceptions of urgency, difficulty and risk, and especially the trade-offs between uncertainty and risk. We will conclude by suggesting some ways forward with examples from both local and global initiatives.
Thursday Loren H. Rieseberg1, Ken Whitney2, and Nolan Kane3. The speed of adaptation. 1Botany 9:50 AM Department, University of British Columbia, Canada; 2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, USA; 3Biology Department, Indiana University, USA.
Theory indicates that the rate of adaptation is limited by the cost of natural selection (i.e., selective mortality). Thus, for organisms with low dispersal rates or whose geographic location is constrained, continuous environmental change may cause extinction, if selection causes the death rate to be greater than the birth rate for more than a few generations. This is true for both small and large populations, although the latter can tolerate higher rates of evolutionary change. Here we compare observed rates of adaptation (both phenotypic and molecular) in natural populations of plants and animals with theoretical predictions. While rates of phenotypic change can be very high on short timescales, long-term rates are generally consistent with theoretical limits. Rates of molecular adaptation in sunflower, fruit flies and great apes are at the upper limit of theoretical predictions, which implies that numerous traits/loci are under selection simultaneously and that the selective load must already be high. The cost of selection can be ameliorated by low rates of gene flow among populations or by an increase in the amount or quality of available habitat. However, any acceleration in the rate of environmental change, such as that due to global warming, will likely exceed the rate at which many populations can respond evolutionarily without going extinct.
Thursday Richard Frankham. Genetic adaptation to captivity in species conservation programs. Key 10:40 AM Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia.
Many species have to be captive bred to save them from extinction, as wild environments are too threatening due to direct and indirect human impacts. Theory predicts that these species will genetically adapt to captivity at a rate dependent upon the selection differential, level of genetic diversity, the effective population size and the number of generations in captivity. Genetic adaptations to captivity are expected to be deleterious when species are returned to wild environments. I will review empirical evidence, mainly from our laboratory, on factors affecting the rate of genetic adaptation to captivity. The rate of adaptation to captivity has been shown to depend upon selection regime, genetic diversity, effective population size and number of generation in captivity, as predicted by genetic theory. Genetic adaptation to captivity is typically deleterious when populations are returned to the wild. Equalization of family sizes and population fragmentation have been shown to provide practical means for minimizing genetic adaptation to captivity. Thus, genetic theory provides a good guide to predict rates of genetic adaptation to captivity. Further, threatened species are typically genetically compromised and have reduced ability to adapt to human-induced environmental changes.
Thursday C. Scott Baker1,2, J. Jackson1, C. Olavarria1,3, E. L. Carroll1, and N. J. Patenaude1,4. How few 11:00 AM whales were there after whaling? 1School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand; 2current address: Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University, USA; 3current address: Instituto Antartico Chileno, Chile; 4current address: Massey University, New Zealand.
Estimating the former abundance of exploited populations of whales is essential to establish a baseline for judging current and future recovery. This baseline has important implications for understanding the ecological role of whales and for the management of any future whaling. Reconstructing the history of an exploited population requires extrapolating (back-fitting) a trajectory through three points in time: 1) prior to exploitation, when the population is assumed to be at the maximum allowed by environmental carrying capacity (K); 2) the point of minimum abundance (Nmin), usually near the time of protection or the abandonment of the hunt; and, 3) near the present (Nobs), when protected populations are assumed to have undergone some recovery. As historical abundance is usually unknown, the trajectory must be extrapolated according to a population dynamic model using catch records, an assumed rate of increase and an estimate of current abundance, all of which have received considerable attention in recent literature. Relatively little attention has been given to estimating Nmin, although it is clear that this point is critical to the potential for recovery or extinction of a local population. Here we consider the use of mitochondrial (mt) DNA diversity to provide a lower boundary on Nmin. As mtDNA is inherited maternally without recombination, the number of unique haplotypes in the current population must set the absolute lower limit of Nmin for females in a historical population trajectory. We demonstrate the informative potential of this parameter by incorporating haplotype diversity as a constraint on Nmin in Bayesian logistic models of right (Eubalaena australis) and humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) whale populations in the Southern Hemisphere. Along with independent observations of highly variable rates of recovery among these regional populations, our results point to the need for more sophisticated models to account for potential inverse density dependence (an ‘Allee effect’) and the influence of maternal fidelity on metapopulation dynamics.
Thursday David W. Coltman. Consequences of selective harvesting. Department of Biological Sciences, 11:20 AM University of Alberta, Canada.
Wildlife harvesting regimes that use selective criteria based on phenotypic characteristics (e.g. minimum body size, horn length or antler size) have the potential to impose artificial selection on harvested populations. If there is heritable genetic variation for the target characteristic and harvesting occurs prior to the age of maturity, then we should expect an evolutionary response over time. This response may adversely impact the target trait from the management standpoint. For example, a bighorn sheep population in Alberta that has been intensely harvested based on minimum horn length criteria has exhibited declining horn growth rates over time, which in turn has lead to fewer legal trophy rams. Furthermore, the nature of the evolutionary response may not be a simple change in the target trait because many aspects of the phenotype are genetically correlated. Artificial selection on a heritable ornamental trait such as horn size could negatively impact population viability if such traits are genetically linked to viability or condition, or if they reflect individual quality. Effective management practice needs to consider more than the direct impact of harvesting on population dynamics. We need to assess the long-term evolutionary impact of artificial selection on the evolutionary trajectory and viability of harvested populations.
Thursday Robin S. Waples. Evolutionary consequences of anthropogenic changes on long-term viability 11:40 AM of Pacific salmon and steelhead. Northwest Fisheries Science Center, USA.
Pacific salmon and steelhead in the contiguous U.S. are depressed, and many populations are considered to be threatened or endangered. Considerable effort has been expended trying to quantify effects of what are commonly referred to as the “four Hs” (habitat, harvest, hatcheries, hydropower development) on survival, mortality, and population growth rate. However, virtually every anthropogenic change that affects these key ecological and demographic parameters will also have profound evolutionary consequences. To date only the evolutionary consequences of artificial propagation (and more recently those of size-selective harvest) have received much attention. In December 2006 in Seattle, we will hold a symposium workshop that considers more broadly how an array of anthropogenic factors elicit an evolutionary response in salmon and steelhead populations, and what these changes mean for the long-term viability of natural populations in human-altered environments. Topics that will be considered include: disease prevalence and resistance; effects of climate change on aquatic ecosystems; selective loss of habitat types and effects on life history diversity; habitat fragmentation and population structure; altered water flow regimes and temperature patterns caused by hydropower operation; size-selective harvest; domestication. I will discuss one or more aspects of this complex topic.
Thursday Jeffrey A. Hutchings and Dylan J. Fraser. Fishing, farming, and their evolutionary 1:20 PM consequences to fishes. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Canada.
Be they large animals or antibiotic-susceptible pathogens, humans have a penchant for selecting against that which they desire most. In fishes, historically unprecedented declines in abundance have been associated with dramatic reductions in age and size at maturity, resulting in increasingly smaller populations comprised of increasingly smaller fish. Fishing, the predominant cause of marine fish population collapses, is thought to have generated evolutionary change through selective removal of individuals of larger sizes and older ages. Farming, and its associated selective milieux, may also effect negative changes to fitness and persistence by increasing the probability of interbreeding between domesticated species and their wild counterparts. Atlantic cod and Atlantic salmon represent two widely distributed species that have been over-fished, declining more than 90% throughout much of their ranges, and that are subjected to increasing levels of domestication. We evaluate the hypothesis that reductions in age and size at maturity in cod represent evolutionary responses to exploitation; we then explore the population consequences of these changes to life history. We also consider the degree to which fishing might alter the shapes of life-history reaction norms, potentially affecting the ability of populations to respond to environmental change. The potential for farming to generate negative genetic consequences to divergent wild populations is explored through the interbreeding of first- and second-generation Atlantic salmon, using a common- garden experimental protocol. As with other types of unintentional, human-induced selection, the long-term repercussions of fishing and farming are almost certainly more complicated than previously believed.
Thursday Paul Leberg1 and Brigette Firmin2. Purging of inbreeding depression and the management of 1:40 PM captive populations. 1Department of Biology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, USA; 2US Fish & Wildlife Service, USA.
Populations that have experienced inbreeding may be less susceptible to inbreeding depression because they have been purged of deleterious recessive alleles. Use of such populations has been proposed as a strategy for captive breeding and restoration programs, because captive populations are often not large enough to avoid inbreeding. However, there has been much criticism of purging strategies with regard to their ability to eliminate inbreeding and their potential for decreasing population viability. We review experiments and simulations assessing the effects of purging to eliminate inbreeding depression. We also present results of an experiment testing whether lineages of mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) that have passed through multiple bottlenecks experience reduced effects of inbreeding on their viability. While some reduction in inbreeding depression is possible following intentional inbreeding, elimination of inbreeding depression is not typically possible and the costs of purging are substantial. Furthermore, the response of a species to purging is difficult to predict, making the strategy risky for management of threatened taxa. In our experiment, we found no evidence that a history of bottlenecks reduced the detrimental effects of inbreeding on a population's ability to recover from a reduction in size; bottlenecks resulted in fixation of detrimental alleles that reduced population viability. Populations that have experienced such bottlenecks would be poor candidates for use as sources of individuals for restoration programs.
Thursday Ettore Randi. Detecting hybridisation between wild species and their domesticated relatives. 2:00 PM Istituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica, Italy.
The widespread occurrence of free-ranging domestic or feral carnivores (dogs, cats) or ungulates (pigs, goats), and massive releases of captive-reproduced game stocks (galliforms, waterfowl) is raising fear that introgressive hybridisation with wild populations might disrupt local adaptations, leading to population decline and loss of biodiversity. Detecting introgression through hybridization is problematic if the parental populations cannot be sampled (unlike in classical stable hybrid zones), or if hybridisation is sporadic. However, the use of hypervariable DNA markers (microsatellites) and new statistical methods (Bayesian models), have dramatically improved the assessment of cryptic population structure, admixture analyses and individual assignment testing. I will summarize results of projects aimed to identify the occurrence and extent of introgressive hybridization in European populations of wolves (Canis lupus), wildcats (Felis silvestris), wildboar (Sus scrofa), rock and red- legged partridges (Alectoris graeca and A. rufa), and quails (Coturnix coturnix), using genetic methods. Results indicate that introgressive hybridization can be locally pervasive, and that conservation plans should be implemented to preserve the integrity of the gene pools of wild populations. Population genetic methods can be fruitfully used to identify introgressed individuals and hybridizing populations, providing data which might allow evaluating the risks of outbreeding depression.
Thursday Kaustuv Roy and Phillip Fenberg. Downsizing nature: ecological and evolutionary 2:20 PM consequences of size-selective harvesting. Section of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, University of California, San Diego, USA.
Size-selective harvesting, where large individuals of a particular species are preferentially taken, is a common phenomenon in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. In case of marine species, selective harvesting of large individuals is not only widespread among artisanal harvesters and poachers but in many cases is also mandated by fisheries managers. As a result, long-term declines in body sizes of many marine species are becoming evident. For example, a comparison of historical records and modern field surveys indicate that body sizes of many intertidal gastropod species in southern California have steadily declined over the past 100 years. Yet we know little about how such reduction in body size affects the biology of these species. In addition, there is emerging evidence that reduction in body size of harvested species can also affect other species in the community by altering interspecific interactions. Here we discuss how size-selective harvesting of marine species can have community-wide effects including impacts on ecosystem function. No species lives in ecological isolation, so in order to understand the long-term consequences of size-selective harvesting we need to look at not just the direct impacts on the harvested species but also indirect effects on other species in the community.
Thursday Phil W. Hedrick1, R. Fredrickson1, and L. Waits2. Captive breeding and the recovery of Mexican 2:40 PM and red wolves. 1Department of Biology, Arizona State University, USA; 2Fish and Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho, USA.
Both Mexican (Canis lupus baileyi) and red (Canis rufus) wolves were hunted to near extinction in the middle of the last century. A captive breeding program for the Mexican wolf was established in the late 1970s from three founders (two other lineages, with two founders each were subsequently added) and a reintroduced population of about 50 animals, descended from this captive population, exists in Arizona and New Mexico today. A captive breeding program for the red wolf was also established in the late 1970s from 14 founders. A reintroduced population of about 100 animals, descended from this captive population, exists in eastern North Carolina today. The captive populations of both taxa have been closely managed to minimize mean kinship and there has also been an extensive effort to monitor wolves in the two reintroduced populations and determine their pedigree relationships. In addition, there have been efforts to augment and change the constitution of the wild populations by releases from captivity. These management actions, the current status of the captive and reintroduced populations, and potential recommended further management alternatives will be evaluated and discussed.
Thursday Robert Wayne1, Bridgett von Holdt1, Jennifer Leonard2, and Douglas Smith3. The effect of 3:20 PM extirpation and reintroduction on genetic variability of the gray wolf. 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; 2Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, Sweden; 3Yellowstone National Park, USA.
The genetic effects of regional extirpation can potentially be reversed if closely related populations exist whose genetic variation was preserved. The gray wolf disappeared from much of the western US by the mid-20th century through habitat loss and government sponsored bounty. However, closely related populations in Canada remained substantial throughout the period and provide a potential source for reintroduction. Through genetic analysis of historical specimens from the American West, we show that unfortunately, all existing North American wolves represent only a subset of the genetic diversity once found in Western states. The surprising high diversity of western wolves probably reflects their location in an Ice Age refugium that provided a limited sampling of colonists for the deglaciated Canadian landscape. Nonetheless, 41 wolves for Alberta and British Columbia were used as a source for reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park in 1994 and 1995, and now over 300 wolves exist in the Yellowstone ecosystem as a result. We show that this rapid increase in population size has preserved the genetic diversity of the founding population at levels comparable to that of the source population. Further, high levels of genetic variation have remained despite very limited gene flow from wolves elsewhere and some inbreeding within the Yellowstone population. Based on analysis of 30 microsatellite loci and field data, we produced a completely resolved genealogy of over 200 wolves that shows the precise genetic dynamics within the reintroduced population and provides an illustration of how a natural reintroduction can preserve genetic variation despite limited area and founder size.
Thursday Pierre Taberlet. Conservation genetics of domestic Bovidae (cattle, sheep, goats). Laboratoire 3:40 PM d'Ecologie Alpine, France.
Domestic Bovidae have been playing a central role in human history since the beginning of agriculture, about 10.000 years ago. Despite very large overall population sizes, many breeds are already extinct, and some others are highly endangered. First, we will summarize the current knowledge about the history of domestication. Cattle have been domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, but also in India, leading to the taurine and the zebu phenotypes. The wild ancestor, the auroch, is now extinct. Sheep and goats were only domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, but do not share the same history. The wild ancestors of these two species still exist, but are endangered. Then, we will examine the current threats. Since about 200 years ago, the management of domestic Bovidae has changed. The implementation of the breed concept leads to the separation of domestic species into different breeds. Such a separation can be compared to the current fragmentation many wild species suffer from. Furthermore, the artificial insemination strongly contributes to a dramatic reduction of the population sizes for the economically most important breeds, leading to genetic problems (e.g. strong decrease in fertility for some cattle breeds). Finally, we will propose management guidelines for preserving the genetic resources.
Thursday Louis Bernatchez. The functional genomics of rapid evolutionary changes between 4:00 PM domesticated and wild populations. Département de biologie, Université Laval,Québec, Canada.
Consumers and environmentalists are increasingly concerned about the potential dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Yet, some of the criticisms of transgenic plants and animals also apply to artificially selected breeds. In animals, strains selected for high production efficiency may be more susceptible to behavioural, physiological and immunological disfunctions,.and many of the genetic changes accumulated in breeding strains are simply unknown. Incomplete knowledge of accumulated heritable differences in breeding strains is of particular concern for the conservation of wild salmonid populations. As one example, the problem of farmed Atlantic salmon escapees has taken alarming proportions, with many hundreds of thousands, and sometimes up to a few millions farmed salmon escaping annually from their sea cages. Gene flow from artificially-selected salmon for aquaculture production to wild populations may lead to outbreeding depression, whereby the adaptive fitness of the wild offspring in subsequent generations, is reduced. A better knowledge of evolutionary changes induced by selective breeding is therefore crucial for assessing the consequences of genetic interactions between wild and escaped farmed salmon. Evolutionary changes may strongly depend on alterations in gene regulation and the microarray (DNA chips) technology offers the possibility of scanning transcription differences at many thousands of genes between farmed and wild salmon. In this paper, I will illustrate how such new “postgenomics” tools may i) provide evidence for the role of selection in driving rapid evolutionary changes, ii) identify specific gene functions that have been altered by the process of selection, and iii) allow to quantify the extent of outbreeding depression resulting from the hybridization between artificially and wild organisms.
Friday Juha Merilä and Phillip Gienapp. Environmental change and evolution: Disentangling 8:00 AM environmental and genetic responses. Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Directional selection imposed by changing environmental conditions is expected to result in evolutionary changes in populations and traits subject to selection. Yet many long-term studies have failed to find expected selection responses in traits subject to strong directional selection. Likewise, there are studies where observed phenotypic changes in population trait means at the phenotypic level are not accompanied by corresponding changes in breeding values. Genetic responses even opposite to phenotypic responses have been observed, suggesting strong direct environmental influences on trait means. We present a short overview over the recent literature on evolutionary responses to environmental changes and some new case studies on genetic and environmental changes in long-term data sets of Siberian jays (Perisoreus infaustus) and red-billed gulls (Larus novahollandie). In particular, we aim to address the issue how often purely phenotypic data will give false indications about the direction and rate of genetic adaptation to directional selection in the wild. We discuss the implications of our findings in the context of biological conservation and the on going directional changes in the biotic and abiotic environment.
Conservation context: • Entangling phenotypic and genetic changes in response to environmental changes can have implications for species conservation. If environmental change causes selection on important life-history traits (e.g. age at first reproduction or brood size) an evolutionary response of these could reduce average reproductive success, which in turn could affect population dynamics. • Lack of change in trait means over time does not equal to lack evolutionary response: genetic changes can be concealed by environmental changes. Hence, genetic studies are important for understanding population responses.
Friday David Reznick1 and Cameron Ghalambor2. Experimental studies of evolution in guppies – a 8:20 AM model for understanding the role of predators in structuring natural communities. 1Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, USA; 2Department of Biology, Colorado State University, USA.
Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in Trinidadian streams are found with a diversity of predators in the lower reaches of streams, but few predators in the headwaters. These differences in predation have caused the adaptive evolution of guppy behavior, morphology, male coloration, and life history. Waterfalls often serve as barriers to the upstream distribution of predators and/or guppies. Such discontinuities make it possible to treat streams like giant test tubes by introducing guppies or predators to small segments of streams from which they were previously excluded. Such experiments enable us to document how fast evolution can occur and the fine spatial scales over which adaptation is possible. It also enables us to consider the role of predators in structuring communities and shaping the evolution of their prey. A focus on predators is important in conservation biology because predators are often the organisms that are most susceptible to local extinction. The selective loss of large predators occurs in marine ecosystems because large predatory fish are the first to be depleted by commercial fishing. It occurs in terrestrial systems because large predators have either been deliberately exterminated or are more susceptible to local extinction. Our work on guppies shows not only the extent to which predators can shape the evolution of their prey, but also how they shape the structure of the ecosystem. Predators depress the numbers of individuals in prey species which in turn influences the structure and productivity of the ecosystem. We will combine our comparative ecological and evolutionary studies of guppies and their predators to illustrate this central role of predators as ecosystems engineers. Ours will be an argument by example for the importance of conserving natural communities, rather than focusing on the conservation of individual species.
Friday Pierre Saumitou-Laprade. Adaptation of Arabidopsis halleri (Brassicaceae) to sites recently 8:40 AM polluted by high amounts of zinc and cadmium. Laboratoire de Genetique et Evolution des Populations Vegetales, Unite Mixte de Recherches, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (UMR CNRS 8016, FR CNRS 1818), Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille – Lille 1, France.
Human activities can have acute effects on the dynamics of adaptation of natural plant populations. Industrial and mining activities, in particular, have left soils with very high levels of heavy metals which prove toxic to most living things. Some plant species called “metallophytes” have nonetheless acquired the capacity to overcome these strong adaptive constraints. A few of them are able to hyperaccumulate metal and represent genetic resources for phytoremediation. In the case of heavy metal tolerance in plants two pseudometallophyte species, Arabidopsis halleri (L.) (O’Kane & Al- Shehbaz) (syn. Cardaminopsis halleri (L.) Hayek) and Thlaspi caerulescens J. & C. Presl., both Brassicaceae able to tolerate and hyperaccumulate zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd), recently emerged as model species. Taking advantage of a wide range of resources that are available for its wild non- tolerant close relative, that is A. thaliana, A. halleri can also be considered the most promising model to identify the genetic basis of adaptation to metalliferous soil. I will illustrate how the wealth of functional genomics and genomic tools pioneered in A. thaliana can be combined to ecological study of one of its wild relatives to gain insight into adaptive evolution of ecologically important traits such as adaptation to soils highly contaminated by zinc and cadmium.
Friday Ole Seehausen. Speciation reversal in human-altered environments. Department of Aquatic 9:00 AM Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, University of Bern, Switzerland; EAWAG Ecology Research Centre, Switzerland.
A large fraction of the world’s species diversity is of recent evolutionary origin, and has evolved as a by-product of divergent adaptation in heterogeneous environments. Recent research suggests that homogenizing environments may cause the rapid loss of such species through a reversal of the speciation process. Practical conservationists have paid attention to the problem of loss of diversity through homogenization of previously differentiated gene pools in the context of human-induced range changes. However, they have put less attention to the problem of ecological homogenization of previously ecologically heterogeneous environments despite the fact that natural environments are becoming homogenized rapidly all around us. I will review the evidence for speciation reversal in such human-altered environments, will discuss evolutionary and ecological mechanisms that are involved, and begin to develop a predictive conceptual framework. Sentence describing how this research could be used to inform conservation planning or policy: Identifying the evolutionary mechanisms of speciation and its reversal will help to develop a conceptual framework to predict consequences of changes in the environment for species coexistence.
Friday Hans Slabbekoorn. How much acoustic space do we leave to the birds? Behavioural Biology, 9:20 AM Institute of Biology Leiden, the Netherlands.
Urbanization world-wide provides a natural laboratory for evolutionary biologists with an ongoing experiment of an unprecedented scale. Urban habitat confronts us with evolutionarily speaking novel selection pressures, such as a dramatically different acoustic environment. Some species thrive in urban settings, others perish, but we often have no clue how or why. Which features explain the success of urban survivors? Do they evolve fast enough to counteract severe masking problems or are there behavioural mechanisms in place that allow birds to adjust? The answers to such questions will provide insight into the urban impact on species that lack the survival features, and may elucidate the threat of noise to fragile populations.
Acoustic communication in birds serves in territory defence and mate attraction. Therefore, urban noise may directly affect reproductive success by reducing the efficiency of vocal signals. In this way 'urban' noise, in cities as well as along highways, could negatively affect bird distributions and densities. The integration of behavioural and distributional data with spatial and temporal variation in anthropogenic noise could produce a predictive model for species-specific ecological effects related to e.g. traffic load inclines, new road constructions, or mitigating measures.
Road impact studies are widely used in policy documents and ecological legislation, but they currently lack a solid validation with respect to their impact on acoustic communication. Despite its intrinsic value and impact on human well-being, urban avifauna has been largely neglected. Given the rapidly growing number of birds and humans exposed to urban conditions, we badly need more insight into how much acoustic space we better save for the birds.
1 1 2 3 Friday Delphine Grivet , Victoria L. Sork , Robert D. Westfall , and Frank W. Davis . Do landscape 9:40 AM changes threaten regions of evolutionary interest in California valley oak (Quercus lobata)? 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Institute of the Environment, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; 2Sierra Nevada Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, USA; 3Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
California valley oak is one of the most threatened endemic oak species in California and is also a keystone species for oak ecosystems. Human-induced landscape transformation has dramatically affected significant portions of the distribution of this species during the last two centuries, and the remaining areas are predicted to experience future rapid landscape changes through development. Here, we explore spatial patterns of genotypes in California to determine whether the ongoing and future patterns of landscape change will jeopardizes areas of unique evolutionary or genetic interest. Using molecular markers and an innovative multivariate genetic analysis, we address three specific questions: (1) Is there any part of the species range, where allelic diversity in either the chloroplast genomes or nuclear or is particularly high? (2) What are the geographic trends in the distribution of chloroplast and nuclear genotypes and are there areas of genetic uniqueness? (3) Based on this information, which areas should be priorities for long-term conservation? To answer these questions, we analyzed six chloroplast and seven nuclear microsatellites on individuals widespread across valley oak range. We first examine geographic trends of genetic variables by visualizing population allelic richness with GIS tools. We then used a multivariate approach by correlating genetic markers versus geographic variables through a canonical correlation analysis, followed by GIS mapping of the significant axes. We found that, for both genomes, gradients in allelic richness and multivariate genotypic variables pointed to two areas with distinctive histories – the southern and the northern part of valley oak range. Valley oak populations within these regions are of high genetic interest, but at risk, because they occupy areas of high rates of forthcoming landscape changes that have currently little degree of protection. This work has policy implications for the design of reserve networks for the preservation of California valley oak.
Friday Thomas Smith1,2, Greg Grether2, Irem Sepil1, Hans Slabbekoorn3, Wolfgang Buermann1, Sassan 10:20 AM Saatchi1,4, Borja Milá1,2, and John Pollinger1,2. Microevolutionary consequences of human disturbance in a rainforest species from Central Africa. 1Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; 2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; 3Behavioral Biology, Institute of Biology Leiden, the Netherlands; 4NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA.
With the loss of biodiversity has come the challenge of conserving not only the patterns of biodiversity but also the processes that produce and maintain it. However, comparatively little attention has been directed toward understanding the microevolutionary consequences of human disturbance on natural populations. We examined the influence of anthropogenic habitat changes on traits typically important in natural and sexual selection in the Little Greenbul (Andropadus virens), an African rainforest bird species. Using environmental variables from remote sensing data, we classified habitats into non-human-altered mature rainforest and human-altered secondary rainforest. Mature rainforest consisted of rainforest that had never been logged, and secondary rainforest was characterized by mixed plantations of coffee and cacao. We found that populations living in mature and human-altered rainforest habitats differed significantly in wing and tarsus length and bill size, characters often correlated with fitness. To assess the extent that characters important in sexual selection and mate choice are influenced by habitat, we also examined differences in plumage color and song. Plumage color and the variance in plumage luminance were found to differ between rainforest types. Song also varied, with duration significantly longer in mature rainforest than in secondary rainforest, leading to a consistently faster delivery rate in secondary than in mature rainforest. To address possible genetic differences between habitats and evaluate gene flow, we used microsatellite markers and AFLP markers. We found no evidence of genetic structuring among populations and high levels of gene flow among all populations regardless of habitat. We argue that the shifts in morphology, plumage, and song are most likely caused by differences in natural and sexual selection between habitats, although the possibility that traits differ due to plasticity cannot be ruled out. Results illustrate how anthropogenic changes may have microevolutionary consequences, with implications for conservation and restoration.
Friday Rosemary Gillespie. Natural and human-mediated biodiversity dynamics in isolated island 10:40 AM communities: using current patterns towards a general understanding of process. Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
The flora and fauna of oceanic islands have inspired fascination since the first oceanic explorations. Over the last century, research has focused on the unique aspects of island biotas and the communities to which they give rise. At the same time, islands can be considered “Nature’s test tubes” – simple systems with multiple replicates. My research has used the simplicity of island systems to understand process of historic community formation, and relate the properties of island communities to those in more complex mainland systems. The particular topics I will present are: (1) Current patterns of biodiversity on isolated islands of the Pacific. I will examine aspects of islands (size, elevation, isolation, etc.) that have allowed for given levels and patterns of endemicity and hence the status of different islands/ archipelagoes as biodiversity hotspots. (2) Current patterns of disturbance and invasion on islands. The extent to which island communities are impacted by, resist, or accommodate disturbance and non native species appears to be dictated to a large extent by properties of the native communities, and how these communities were originally assembled. Accordingly, patterns of disturbance and invasion are very different for islands that are extremely isolated compared to those that are closer to a source of natural migrants. (3) Future trajectories. As with all biotas, those on islands are dynamic entities. However, the unique aspect of island dynamics is their isolation, and in most systems this has largely been lost. How does such a modified dynamic affect the future of the biota? In each case, efforts will be made to extrapolate what we have learned and can learn from islands to allow a greater understanding of more complex mainland systems.
Friday Dany Garant1, Loeske E. B. Kruuk2, Robin H. McCleery3, and Ben C. Sheldon3. Changing climate 11:00 AM and changing genetic (co)variance of reproductive traits in a wild bird population. 1Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada; 2Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom; 3Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
Global warming has had numerous effects on populations of animals and plants, with many species in temperate regions experiencing environmental change at unprecedented rates. Populations with low potential for adaptive evolutionary change will have little chance of persistence in the face of environmental change. Assessment of the potential for adaptive evolution requires the estimation of quantitative genetic parameters (genetic variances and covariances). Many studies of the genetic basis for quantitative traits in wild populations have assumed, implicitly, that the environment remains constant in time and space, and that it does not influence the key quantitative genetic parameters. This paper will assess the impact of a changing environment on the underlying genetic variances and covariances among reproductive traits in a wild bird population. Reproductive traits are ideal for study in this context because: (i) they are environmentally responsive, and (ii) they are often under strong natural selection. We use a long term dataset collected on great tits (Parus major) and an animal model approach to quantify heritability of, and genetic correlations among, laying date, clutch size and egg mass during two periods with contrasting temperature conditions over a 40 year period (1965-2004). Our study therefore aims to improve our understanding of potential genetic changes of wild populations and of factors allowing individuals to face rapidly changing conditions. Ultimately, such information will help to adjust the management practices and policies in the perspective of maintaining the genetic and ecological integrities of natural populations.
Friday Marcel E. Visser. Climate change leads to selection on temperature sensitivity of avian timing 11:20 AM of reproduction. Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), the Netherlands.
For many bird species there is only a short period in the annual cycle when conditions are suitable for reproduction. As this period varies from year to year, depending on spring conditions, the phenology of birds (i.e. the onset of reproduction) is a phenotypically plastic trait: in warm springs the birds lay at an earlier date than in cold springs. Climate change leads to an advancement of the period of favourable conditions, i.e. the time of maximal prey abundance, and hence birds should also initiate reproduction earlier. However, the temperature dependent mechanisms as used by the prey will differ strongly from that of the birds. Thus, the increase in temperature does not a priori lead to similar shifts in prey and predator phenology.
We show that (1) this is indeed the case in both a resident bird, the great tit (Parus major), and a long distant migrant, the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), (2) that this leads to mistimed reproduction and (3) that this mistiming has severe consequences for population viability. We furthermore show that (4) micro-evolution of the birds’ temperature dependent mechanism may occur as there is heritable variation in the temperature sensitivity of phenology, and that there is increased selection for more temperature sensitive birds. Finally, (5) we address the pivotal question whether the rate of micro-evolution will match the rate of environmental change.
How can this research be used to inform conservation planning or policy?
Population viability, and thereby biodiversity, will be seriously threatened if the rate of micro- evolution will be insufficient to match the rate of environmental change. Evolutionary ecologists can assess the rate of evolution by detailed studies on a number of model species – i.e. heritability, selection, response to selection. The rate of environmental change however, is determined by socio-economic decisions, as represented by the scenario studies of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This rate is thus set by political decision-making. Ultimately, our study should contribute to clarifing the consequences for biodiversity loss for each of the IPCC scenarios, enabling policy makers to make an informed trade-off between economic and environmental losses.
Friday William E. Bradshaw and Christina M. Holzapfel. Genetic response to rapid climate change. 11:40 AM Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Oregon, USA.
Recent rapid climate warming is affecting primarily winter temperatures. Winters are warming faster than summers and this effect is more pronounced at higher latitudes. As a consequence of warmer winters, spring arrives earlier and fall later than 30-40 years ago, resulting in longer “growing seasons” favorable for growth, development, and reproduction. The longer growing season leads to selection for altered timing of seasonal activities in the life histories of animals. Examples of genetic responses to rapid climate warming span insects, birds and mammals and all can be interpreted as adaptations to earlier springs, longer summers, or later falls; there are no documented cases of genetic shifts in thermal tolerance or thermal optima in any animal population. The majority of temperate animals use the highly predictive length of day as the primary cue to time their seasonal activities. We therefore propose that continued rapid climate warming at temperate and arctic latitudes will impose selection for altered seasonal events, primarily through genetic modification of response to day length, and not through genetic modification of response to temperature, per se.
Friday Jessica J. Hellmann, Shannon L. Pelini, Kirsten M. Prior, and Evgueni V. Zakharov. Local 12:00 PM adaptation as potential constraint on geographic range shifts under climate change: molecular evidence of divergence and field tests of population fitness in two contrasting butterfly species. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, USA
Many ecologists assume that climatic warming will drive geographic range shifts because populations at the periphery of their range are poorly adapted to peripheral conditions. Warming, therefore, improves fitness at the poleward range edge thereby increasing population size and providing a source of colonists for poleward colonization. This perspective, however, does not generally consider adaptive differentiation across a species' range. Traits that limit dispersal and increase exposure to selective agents can lead to the emergence of genetic differences among populations, differences that confer local fitness advantages. These local differences may be critical under climate change because peripheral populations could be perturbed from local fitness optima thereby decreasing the opportunity for poleward colonization. We explore this evolutionary constraint on the ecological response of species to climate change by seeking adaptive differences in two contrasting butterfly species: a small-bodied, specialist (Erynnis propertius) and a large- bodied, generalist (Papilio zelicaon). In translocation experiments within the periphery of the range, we find evidence for greater adaptation to peripheral conditions in the small, specialist than in the large, generalist as the specialist performed equally well among study sites (as measured by larval growth rate) and the generalist grew fastest under conditions most like its range core. We also report more recent results involving large-scale translocations between the range edge and core and microsatellite data on differentiation across the species' ranges.
Friday Mark Reynolds1,2, Gretchen LeBuhn2, and Rebecca Shaw1. Is ignoring evolution intelligent 12:20 PM design for conservation? 1The Nature Conservancy, California Field Office, USA; 2Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, USA
There is a growing awareness that evolution occurs on contemporary timescales and may be influenced by some of the very same factors that accelerate species extinction (e.g. over-harvest, habitat conversion and fragmentation, invasive species, global climate change). There is also some evidence that contemporary evolution may allow some populations to adapt to rapid habitat changes including those related to global warming. Despite this growing body of evidence governments, policy-makers, and global conservation NGOs rarely explicitly incorporate evolution in planning and have few strategies to conserve evolutionary novelty or to leverage potential adaptability. Is it fair to assume that conserving large blocks of habitat and connectivity in functional ecosystems and landscapes, the model approach of current conservation, indirectly accounts for evolutionary? In this paper, we investigate this assumption and the ways in which conservation planning and implementation might be improved by attention to evolution.
Friday Spencer C.H. Barrett1, Robert I. Colautti1, and Christopher G. Eckert2. The evolution of adaptation 2:00 PM during plant invasion. 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Canada; 2Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Canada.
Recent plant invasions provide unique opportunities for investigating the evolution of local adaptation during contemporary time scales. Geographical range expansion following introduction requires that invaders solve the problem of establishment and reproduction in new environments. The most durable solution is the evolution of local adaptation. Selection can result in novel responses, or it can result in the “re-invention” of parallel patterns of adaptive variation, which characterize populations in the native range. The scope of local adaptation during range expansion depends critically on the amount and kind of genetic variation within populations. In flowering plants, this variation is particularly affected by the reproductive system(s) of invaders, the role of founder events during colonization, and the occurrence of gene flow among invading populations. Although recent work has revealed genetic differentiation between native versus introduced populations, few studies have investigated evolutionary processes involved in the expansion of a species’ geographic range following introduction. Here, we review examples of these processes from our work on the ecology and genetics of plant invasions. We provide evidence that the evolution of local adaptation following colonization can occur in diverse species with contrasting reproductive systems and life- history traits. We argue that local adaptation presents a particular challenge for the control of invasive species. Knowledge of the likelihood and tempo with which local adaptation is likely to evolve should be a priority area for conservation planners and managers.
Friday Ingrid M. Parker and Katrina M. Dlugosch. Founding events in invasions: genetic patterns and 2:20 PM evolutionary consequences. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA.
It is increasingly apparent that evolutionary changes can be important to the success of invasive species. However, adaptive evolution is the result of selection on genetically variable traits, and theory suggests that many invaders should suffer from reductions in genetic diversity during founding events. In turn, the prediction that genetic bottlenecks are a common feature of invasions has led to the idea that multiple introductions or hybridization events are critical for adaptive evolution. While there is no doubt that hybridization between particular lineages has generated novel and highly successful genotypes, whether adaptation is in general limited in isolated founding populations is less clear. This is particularly true for quantitative traits, which may show increases in genetic variation in response to demographic bottlenecks. We discuss the prevalence of genetic bottlenecks in invasive populations, and we consider whether the disadvantages associated with founding events have been overstated. We present our own data comparing molecular and quantitative trait diversity between founding populations and their particular source region in the native range. We also consider how multiple introductions might generate a geographic mosaic of maladaptation as introductions from different evolutionary histories colonize a landscape.
Friday Craig W. Benkman1, Adam M. Siepielski1, and Thomas L. Parchman2. Species introductions, the 2:40 PM loss of geographic variation and the elimination of coevolutionary diversification. 1Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, USA; 2Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, USA.
Species introductions may seem innocuous when species occur in similar nearby communities, however, these introductions, like long-distance introductions (e.g., trans-continental), can cause extinctions and change the evolutionary trajectories of remaining community members. These ‘local introductions’ also more cryptically homogenize formerly distinct populations within a species. We will focus on several characteristics and the potential consequences of these local introductions. First, local introductions will commonly be successful because the species being introduced is compatible with existing abiotic and biotic conditions; many nearby communities differ because of historical factors and the absence of species is simply the result of barriers to dispersal. Moreover, the species with which they interact most strongly (e.g., prey) may have, for example, lost defenses making the establishment of new species even more likely. Second, if the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of the local community into which the introduction is made are not well understood beforehand, the effects of the introduction may be difficult to detect because the community is likely to converge onto nearby communities that naturally have the introduced species (hence the perceived innocuousness). This homogenization of formerly distinct populations eliminates the geographic diversity of species interactions, reduces regional species diversity and the geographic potential for speciation. We will illustrate these ideas by focusing on the introduction of tree squirrels into squirrel-less forest patches whereby such introductions have eliminated incipient species of crossbills coevolving in arms races with conifers.
Friday Scott P. Carroll. Predicting the forms and foundations of rapid adaptation in persisting 3:20 PM populations. Center for Population Biology and Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, USA.
As the pace and scale of human disturbance increase, evolution on ecological time scales is becoming commonplace in species persisting in disrupted environments. Depending on the form and intensity of change, myriad responses may occur at the genomic, individual and population levels. Responses to relatively slow or quantitative environmental change may be based on beneficial mutations, developmental plasticity, polymorphism and bet hedging. In contrast, rapid or qualitative environmental change may be met by genetic reorganization (e.g., as in founder-flush scenarios), behavioral and physiological plasticity, and sudden substantial evolution. Both opportunity and catastrophe may foster radical change. Biotic invasions are a prime engine of global change, and genetically-based rapid adaptation often characterizes the responses of native species to invasives. A review of more than 30 cases shows that ecological interactions with new predators, competitors and parasites is leading natives to evolve rapidly in morphology, physiology, behavior and life history. A preponderance of those cases involves native phytophagous insects colonizing introduced host plants. Our studies of North American and Australian soapberry bugs on invasive hosts show striking examples of both diversifying and homogenizing evolution on ecological time scales. The genetic architecture of this adaptation involves a great degree of epistatic genetic variation. That result may reflect a recent history of colonization by small number of individuals followed by strong population growth. Such founder-flush events may in theory produce extraordinary evolutionary potential in the genome, but their importance must be clarified by more studies such as these. Rapid, ongoing evolution in native species presents challenges for ecologically-appropriate and sustainable management, but at the same time may enhance the capacity of native communities to act in the biological control of invasive species.
Friday Carol Eunmi Lee. Exploring genomic targets of selection across independent invasions into 3:40 PM novel environments. Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, USA.
Of the large number of species that are introduced into novel habitats, few become successful as invaders. What allows some species to invade, when most cannot? We hypothesized that invasions into novel environments might involve the rapid and parallel evolution of genetically labile traits. Within the past century, the copepod Eurytemora affinis has invaded freshwater habitats multiple times independently from saline sources. To begin exploring genomic targets of selection during these independent habitat invasions, we integrated comparative gene expression analysis (using custom cDNA microarrays), quantitative genetic approaches, and physiological assays (ion efflux and uptake). We analyzed evolutionary shifts in transcription profiles and physiological function for (1) pairs of saline ancestral source and derived freshwater populations across four independent invasions from two genetically distinct clades, and (2) laboratory-selected lines, where saline populations from each clade were selected for freshwater tolerance in the laboratory. Our gene expression analysis revealed evolutionary shifts in the expression of genes spanning diverse functional categories, including osmoregulation, energy production, cell cycle regulation, protein synthesis, and stress response. In particular, shifts in gene expression and physiological function suggested mechanisms to reduce ionic loss rather than to increase ion uptake in the freshwater populations. In addition, a diverse array of genes showed parallel shifts in gene expression across multiple independent invasions, within and among genetically distinct clades and in the laboratory- selected lines. Greater parallelism occurred within each clade, with laboratory-selected lines following the pattern of wild freshwater populations within each clade. In some cases, differences between the clades were striking. This study revealed functional evolutionary shifts between ancestral saline and freshwater invading populations, and provided a pool of plausible candidate genes that might serve as the targets of selection. Some degree of evolutionary determinism was apparent across independent freshwater invasions, but particularly within clades. The evolutionary parallelism observed here might have relevance for taxonomically different but ecologically similar species that invade across similar habitat clines.
Friday Andrew V. Suarez1 and Neil D. Tsutsui2. The evolutionary consequences of social insect 4:00 PM invasions. 1Department of Animal Biology and Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, USA; 2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, USA.
A major challenge of invasion biology is the development of a predictive framework that prevents new invasions. This is inherently difficult because different biological characteristics are important at different stages of invasion (opportunity / transport, establishment and spread). Here, we draw from recent research on invasive ants, termites and honeybees to examine the evolutionary causes and consequences of invasions by eusocial species. Social insects are among the most successful invasive species, and because they live in complex societies, may be particularly sensitive to microevolutionary changes in response to anthropogenic disturbance. The process of introduction may favor species with characteristics that promote success in highly disturbed, human-dominated landscapes, thus exerting novel forms of selection on introduced populations. Consequently, the introduction of species into new environments facilitates rapid evolution, which can lead to changes in the genetic systems that underlie their social organization. Moreover, in some cases, the transformation of an introduced species into a rapidly spreading and damaging invader may involve a series of successive introductions, resulting in genetically and phenotypically diverse populations. Rigorous scientific exploration of these processes has only begun recently and, in many cases, has been greatly facilitated by the application of molecular ecology.
We provide a framework for how this research can be used to inform conservation planning and policy. For example, secondary introductions of previously established species (and even movement of individuals among introduced populations) need to be regulated, as they may be important sources of genetic variation necessary for adaptation in new environments. Modern molecular techniques can take advantage of genetic changes post-introduction to determine the source of introduced populations and their vectors of spread.
Friday Andrew P. Hendry1, T. Farrugia1, and Michael T. Kinnison2. Human impacts on rates of 4:20 PM phenotypic change in wild animal populations. 1Department of Biology, McGill University, Canada; 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maine, USA.
Human activities can expose populations to dramatic environmental perturbations, which may then cause phenotypic changes owing to genetic or plastic responses. But are human-induced phenotypic changes qualitatively greater than changes caused by natural environmental variation acting on similar time scales? We address this question by analyzing a database of more than 3000 rates of phenotypic change in 63 “systems” (a particular species in a particular geographical area). We find that humans unequivocally increase rates of phenotypic change above natural background levels. Phenotypic plasticity is an important part of this response because the difference between human-induced and natural phenotypic changes was greater when estimated using individuals collected from the wild than when using common-garden or quantitative-genetic methods. We also find that phenotypic changes in wild animal populations are remarkably abrupt, again supporting an important role for plasticity. Humans are indeed an extreme agent of contemporary phenotypic change, particularly in regard to their influence on phenotypic plasticity. Here is another general way in which humans impact biological diversity.
Friday Kenneth D. Whitney1, Rebecca A. Randell2, and Loren H. Rieseberg3. Hybridization as a route to 4:40 PM invasion. 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, USA; 2Department of Biology, Indiana University, USA; 3Botany Department, University of British Columbia, Canada.
Invasive species have large negative impacts on native ecosystems, but predicting which species are likely to become problematic has been an elusive goal. Accumulating evidence suggests that a substantial fraction of invasive species are “made” rather than “born”; that is, they arise post- introduction via rapid evolution in the novel environment or by hybridization with well-adapted native species. Given the parallels between range expansion and invasion in plants, we have examined a recent range expansion in a wild sunflower to determine whether hybridization has contributed to increased adaptation and weedy/invasive behavior. We show that Helianthus annuus has captured genetic material from the Texas endemic H. debilis in the process of colonizing southern Texas. The hybrid lineage has higher fitness than parentals, and a number of herbivore resistance traits have introgressed from H. debilis into H. annuus and are under positive natural selection in the hybrids. Thus, hybridization has apparently provided a route for rapid adaptation and the acquisition of traits increasing weedy/invasive behavior. The results indicate that species introductions capable of hybridizing with natives pose a significant risk of rapidly adapting to local conditions and thereby becoming invasive.
Saturday Michael T. Kinnison1, Martin J. Unwin2, and Thomas P. Quinn3. Rapid evolution as an ecological 8:40 AM determinant of invasion: experimental evaluation in the wild. 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maine, USA; 2National Institute of Water and Atmosphere, New Zealand; and 3School of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Washington, USA.
Although evolution is well documented over "ecological" time scales, its role in shaping ecological dynamics in the wild is often ignored. For example, contemporary evolution is expected in populations that colonise new habitats, where it could theoretically enhance fitness, associated vital rates, and population growth. Nonetheless, success of exotic species is much more commonly attributed to aspects of habitat quality and "escape from enemies" in the invaded range. Here, we consider rapid evolution of major fitness components in exotic Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) populations that invaded New Zealand, and experimentally partition the role evolution plays in modifying geographic patterns of vital rates expected from habitat quality alone. Although variation in habitat quality within the new range had the greatest influence on broad geographic patterns of vital rates, rapid evolution of fitness far exceeded the fitness effects of individual traits and more than doubled local vital rates and invasiveness. These results not only provide experimental evidence that evolution can play a major role in the ecology of invasion, but also demonstrate the importance of considering the emergent fitness and ecological consequences of contemporary evolution, rather than just trait change.
Saturday Oliver R. W. Pergams1 and Robert C. Lacy2. Microevolution in Chicago-area mice. 1University of 9:00 AM Illinois at Chicago, USA; 2Chicago Zoological Society, USA.
We discuss microevolution of morphology and mitochondrial genes in white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in the Chicago (Illinois, USA) region. Comparing museum specimens with freshly caught mice, COX2 sequences showed consistent directional change of genotype at five separate collection locations from 1855 to present. The older haplotype A was eventually completely replaced by a newer haplotype M at all locations. Further and exhaustively sampling one of these locations (Volo Bog), we compared higher-resolution D-loop sequences as well as morphology. Mice caught 1903-1976 were similar to each other both genetically and morphologically. However, mice caught at present were much longer in body, with broader, longer noses, and longer but shallower skulls. These morphological changes are similar in type to microevolution previously described in rats on the Galapagos Islands and deer mice on the California Channel Islands. Rates of evolutionary change were at least as great as cases of exotic organisms introduced to new habitats. Concurrent with the morphological change, there was rapid evolution at the molecular level, with complete D-loop haplotype replacement between 1976 and 2001. Although we can at this time only guess at the selective pressures that led to rapid evolution, our findings suggest that even large, extensive populations can evolve rapidly in response to environmental change.
It is important to realize that man does not “only” cause species extinctions and destroy habitats. When animals and plants are subjected to extreme forces they may react in another way besides going extinct: they adapt very rapidly. These mice are probably evolving rapidly in response to some, yet unknown change or changes caused by man. The similarity of these changes to those occurring in Galapagos and California Channel Islands rodents hints that these changes may be global in nature.
Saturday Craig Moritz, Edward Davis, Nathan Kraft, Michelle Koo, and David Ackerly. Predicting and 9:20 AM protecting evolutionary hotspots in California. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
Evolutionary processes drive both changes within species and development of new species, and maintaining these processes is important to effective conservation in a rapidly changing environment. In collaboration with California State Parks, we seek to identify and protect evolutionary hotpots - areas of the landscape with unusually rapid rates of diversification. Based on simple concepts from speciation theory, we are focusing attention on: (1) bio-geographic suture zones, (2) areas with steep environmental gradients and/or high topographic or geologic complexity, and (3) areas subject to recent colonization and adaptive divergence or co-evolutionary selection pressures. We are developing GIS layers that in combination will predict spatial patterns of recent diversification across California, and intend to evaluate this model at state-wide and regional spatial scales using a combination of phylogeographic, phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence from published and ongoing studies. Further, as some such hotspots will move in response to climate change, planning for protection of evolutionary processes should incorporate appropriate gradients to maximize resilience.
Saturday Robert C. Fleischer. Trouble in paradise: Interactions of invasive vectors, introduced disease 9:40 AM and an endangered native avifauna. Genetics Program, National Museum of Natural History and National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, USA.
Evolutionary and population dynamics of infectious disease organisms with their natural vectors and hosts can be complex, but these complexities are often magnified when a native host encounters novel vectors and pathogens through introduction. The Hawaiian avifauna and introduced avian malaria is considered to be a classic case of an introduced parasite having extreme impacts on the fitness of immunologically naive native species. Genetic analyses of the Culex quinquefasciatus vector and avian malarial parasite (Plasmodium relictum) in Hawaii reveal a single genetic (Hawaii) strain of parasite, and a recent conversion from a New World to mostly an Old World (Australopacific) genotype of mosquito. The worldwide distributions of the Hawaiian malarial strain and the Australopacific Culex genotype suggest an interaction between the two. DNA analysis of museum specimens suggests a relatively late arrival for both to the islands (mid 1900s). The implications for the evolution of virulence of the parasite and for evolutionary dynamics of invasive or introduced vectors and pathogens, and their native hosts, will be discussed, along with suggestions for solutions to the major negative impacts this parasite currently has on native Hawaiian bird populations.
Saturday Scott V. Edwards. Host-parasite interactions: Evolutionary genetics and gene expression 10:20 AM changes in House Finches induced by an expanding bacterial pathogen. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, USA.
In 1994, a parasitic bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, expanded its usual galliform bird host range and successfully colonized a novel host, the House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus). In the intervening decade the rapid spread of the pathogen through multiple populations of introduced eastern and native western U.S. House Finches was well documented. Using multilocus and macroarray approaches, we have been studying the population genetic and evolutionary consequences of this epizootic on House Finches and the effects of experimental infection by Mycoplasma on House Finch gene expression. Many genes exhibiting increased or decreased gene expression changes are either generalist, highly pleiotropic loci responding to stress, such as heat shock protein (HSP) 90, or highly specific genes of the immune system targeting pathogen- infected cells, such as T-cell immunoglobulin mucin (TIM) 1, granzyme A and MHC class II- associated invariant chain. Our current goals are to refine these studies using more sensitive microarray approaches and to conduct genome scans of pre- and post-epizootic populations made available by museum collections to identify loci evolving adaptively as a result of the epizootic. The House Finch-Mycoplasma interaction provides a model system by which we can understand and perhaps predict the evolutionary consequences of expanding diseases on avian populations in the wild.
Saturday Camille Lebarbenchon1,2, Robert Poulin3, Michel Gauthier-Clerc2,and Frédéric Thomas1. Human 10:40 AM activities and parasite microevolution. 1Génétique et Evolution des Maladies Infectieuses, UMR CNRS/IRD 2724, IRD, France; 2Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, France; 3Department of Zoology, University of Otago, New Zealand.
Human activities have resulted in substantial, large-scale environmental modifications, especially in the past century. Ecologists and evolutionary biologists are increasingly coming to realise that parasites and pathogens, like free-living organisms, evolve as the consequence of these anthropogenic changes. Although this area now commands the attention of a variety of researchers, a predictive framework is lacking, mainly because the links between human activities, environment and parasite evolution are various and complex. From empirical and theoretical examples chosen in the literature, we give an overview of the ways in which humans can directly or indirectly influence the evolution of different traits in parasites (e.g. specificity, virulence, polymorphism∑). We discuss the role of direct and indirect factors as diverse as habitat fragmentation, pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, introduction of species, use of vaccines and antibiotics, ageing of the population etc∑ We also present challenging questions for further research. Understanding the links between anthropogenic changes and parasite evolution needs to become a key topic of public health planning, economic development and conservation biology.
Saturday Troy Day1. and Andrew Read2. Modern poultry practices and the evolution of pathogen 11:00 AM virulence. 1Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Canada; 2School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Marek’s disease is a viral disease of chickens that causes substantial economic losses in the poultry industry. This disease was not of much concern prior to the middle of the last century, but since that time it appears to have evolved increased virulence. Coincident with this evolutionary increase in disease severity was the introduction of two profound changes in chicken husbandry: (i) the introduction of large-scale, “industrial” chicken farms, and (ii) the introduction of vaccines to control Marek’s disease. This raises the possibility that one or both of these human-induced changes in chicken husbandry has been the cause of this evolutionary escalation in virulence. We present some theoretical results aimed at exploring the extent to which these two hypothesized factors might explain the observed evolutionary increase in virulence. The theoretical results are also used to suggest how such evolutionary considerations might be taken into account when making future changes to the poultry industry (e.g., the design of new vaccines).
Saturday Scott P. Layne. Influenza surveillance: The demand to expand. Department of Epidemiology, 11:20 AM School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
The WHO, FAO/OIE and USDA influenza programs are among the best developed and longest running infectious disease surveillance systems in the world. In the human domain, they maintain a worldwide watch of influenza’s relentless evolution, so that appropriately formulated vaccines can be delivered in time to blunt seasonal epidemics and unpredictable pandemics that could overwhelm health care everywhere. In the zoological domain, they also watch for outbreaks of highly pathologic avian influenza (HPAI), so that infection control efforts and import/export restrictions can be applied. Despite the Programs' success, however, much more is possible with today’s advanced technologies. This paper summarizes ongoing human and animal influenza surveillance activities worldwide. It points out that we have the technology in hand to establish a high-throughput laboratory network that can process and test influenza viruses at greater speed and in greater detail. It also emphasizes the practical public health, scientific, decision making and policy related applications of such a network.
The high-throughput laboratory network will bridge gaps that separate human and animal surveillance activities. It will test and analyze thousands of samples per day and thereby provide a real-time global view of infectious disease outbreaks. With such capabilities, it will become possible to associate infectious disease outbreak patterns with ongoing changes in ecosystems and the environment. Influenza will be the initial disease agent of study, however, the high-throughput laboratory network can be applied many other planetary threats.
Poster Presentations (IN NUMERICAL ORDER)
1. Rapid adaptation of sea-run threespine stickleback fish after introduction to a lake. Windsor E. Aguirre and Michael A. Bell
2. Did Florida populations of the root weevil Diaprepes abbreviatus L. come from Puerto Rico? A mitochondrial analysis of populations from Puerto Rico and Florida. Marina S. Ascunce, Ann Marie Clark, Rosa A. Franqui, and Herbet N. Nigg
3. Evolutionary responses of associated hormonal, behavioral, and morphological traits following colonization: conservation or potential? Jonathan W. Atwell, Goncalo C. Cardoso, and Ellen D. Ketterson
4. Discovering genes associated with whirling disease resistance using microarray analysis. Melinda Baerwald, Ronald Hedrick, and Bernie May
5. Population genetic structure of a rodent reservoir for Hantavirus, O. longicaudatus, in Chile and its human implications. Brittany S. Barker, Fernando Torres-Perez, R. Eduardo Palma, and Joseph A. Cook
6. Models of rapid life history evolution in marine reserves. Marissa L. Baskett, Joshua S. Weitz, Jonathan Dushoff, Steven D. Gaines, and Simon A. Levin
7. Differences in genetic diversity for mitochondrial DNA among hatchery and wild populations of Oncorhynchus mykiss with suspected resistance to Myxobolus cerebralis the causative agent of salmonid whirling disease. Katherine A. Beauchamp, Mansour El-Matbouli, E. Richard Vincent, Ronald P. Hedrick
8. The role of genetically engineered traits in future evolution. Thomas Bøhn & Raul Primicerio
9. Comparative phylogeography in southern California: Evolutionary processes and current reserve design. Andrew J. Bohonak, Joshua Boys, Robert Fisher, and Amy G. Vandergast
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
10. Effects of forest fragmentation on prevalence and host specificities of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus spp. in African rainforest birds. Camille Bonneaud, Irem Sepil, Borja Milá, Wolfgang Buermann, Ravinder N.M. Sehgal, Gediminas Valkiūnas, Tatjana A. Iezhova, Sassan Saatchi, and Thomas B. Smith
11. Ecotoxicology of wild yellow perch (Perca flavescens) populations chronically exposed to a polymetallic gradient: A genetic approach. Vincent Bourret, Louis Bernatchez, Patrice Couture, and Peter G.C. Campbell
12. Bird translocations as an effective tool for the genetic restoration of isolated populations. Juan L. Bouzat, Jeff A. Johnson, John E. Toepfer, Scott A. Simpson, Terry L. Esker, and Ronald L. Westemeier
13. Conservation genetics of the east Pacific green turtle (Chelonia mydas) in Michoacan, Mexico. Omar Chassin-Noria, Alberto Abreu-Grobois, Peter H. Dutton, and Ken Oyama
14. A hybrid zone between two species of spadefoot toads. Amanda J. Chunco and Karin Pfennig
15. Understanding the causes and fates of hybrid swarms. Matthew P. Corsi, Paul Spruell, Robb F. Leary, and Fred W. Allendorf
16. Modern human predators as agents of selection. Chris Darimont, Paul C. Paquet, and Thomas E. Reimchen
17. Endemic lineages reflect hotspots of biodiversity within the Alexander Archipelago, Alaska. Natalie G. Dawson, S.O. MacDonald, A.G. Hope, and J.A. Cook
18. Fishatlas: integrating available and new genetic data on Belgian freshwater fish for conservation management. Koen De Gelas, Jeroen Van Houdt, Filip A.M. Volckaert, and Daniel De Charleroy
19. Patterns of genetic variation in anthropogenically impacted populations. Joseph D. DiBattista
20. Fish-stocking imposes rapid micro-evolution on the zooplankter Daphnia. Cathy Duvivier, Robby Stoks, and Luc De Meester
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
21. Parallel responses of species and genetic diversities of Indonesian butterflies to disturbance in tropical rainforests. Cécile Fauvelot, Daniel F.R. Cleary, and Steph B.J. Menken
22. The effects of size-selective harvesting on the population biology of a sex-changing limpet, Lottia gigantea. P.B. Fenberg and K. Roy
23. Climate change alters phenology and gene flow in an annual plant. Steven J. Franks and Arthur E. Weis
24. Fitness and phenotypic consequences of multigenerational hybridization between farmed and wild salmon from two divergent populations. Dylan J. Fraser and Jeffrey A. Hutchings
25. Restricted gene flow among populations of the endangered pygmy bluetongue lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis. Michael G. Gardner, Annabel Smith, Aaron Fenner, and C. Michael Bull
26. Evolutionary responses of a butterfly population to climate change – explorations with a stochastic, individual-based model. Richard S. Gejji, James J. Boyle, Ward B. Watt, Mark S. Alber, and Jessica J. Hellmann
27. MHC versus microsatellite diversity in spotted suslik Spermophilus suslicus populations from two different parts of its range. Aleksandra Gondek and Jacek Radwan
28. Speciation in reverse: the collapse of a threespine stickleback species pair highlights the fragility of reproductive barriers between evolutionarily young species. Jennifer L. Gow, Janette W. Boughman, Matt Groenenboom, Marian Sniatynski, Dolph Schluter, Catherine L. Peichel, and Eric B. Taylor
29. Rapid evolution of a desert plant invader in response to elevated atmospheric CO2 at the Nevada Desert FACE Facility. Judah Grossman and Kevin J. Rice
30. The fate of mixed populations: Exploring the outcomes of many generations of experimental hybridization under both benign and stressful conditions. AnnMarie S. Hwang and Suzanne Edmands
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
31. Integrating data, biological and decision models for invasive species management: Application to leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula). Ayaz Hyder, Brian Leung, and Zewei Miao
32. Flowering phenology and the evolution of fragmented prairie plant populations. Jennifer Ison and Stuart Wagenius
33. Genetic and phenotypic diversity in Western aspen. M.K. Kanaga, M.E. Pfrender, R.J. Ryel, and K.E. Mock
34. The role of local adaptation in the spread of an invader: Recent range expansion of Bromus tectorum. Rebecca H. Kao, Cynthia S. Brown, and Ruth A. Hufbauer
35. If you build it, who will come? Casting an evolutionary eye on ecological restoration. Madhusudan Katti and Karl Kraft
36. Does the native predator Corethrella appendiculata determine the invasive success of the mosquito Aedes albopictus? Banugopan Kesavaraju, Kavitha Damal, and Steven A. Juliano
37. Genetic impacts of ranch mink on wild mink populations. Anne Kidd, Jeff Bowman, and Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde
38. Impact of human development on contemporary evolution in threespine stickleback fish. Jun Kitano, David A. Beauchamp, Seiichi Mori, Takanori Nakano, and Catherine L. Peichel
39. Human-induced habitat modification drives rapid and predictable morphological evolution in an endemic livebearing fish. R. Brian Langerhans and Craig A. Layman
40. The interplay of hybrid vigour, hybrid breakdown and recombination in adaptation to novel environments. Robert G. Latta and April D. Johansen
41. Exploitation-induced changes in farmed stocks Pacific oysters in France. Ane T. Laugen, Pierre Boudry, and Bruno Ernande
42. Local adaptation to climatic variation in the common frog (Rana temporaria). Ane T. Laugen, Anssi Laurila, Katja Räsänen, and Juha Merilä
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
43. Immune defense strategies differ between invasive New World House Sparrows and their Old World ancestors. K. A. Lee, K.C. Klasing, L.B. Martin, L. Fusani, G. Sorci, B. Faivre, and M. Wikelski
44. Application of microsatellite data to the design of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Hawaiian Islands. Catherine Lippé and David B. Carlon
45. Exotic vs. Native species: effects of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) on the native bird communities of a subtropical area. Ian MacGregor-Fors, Lorena Morales-Pérez, Javier Quesada, and Jorge E. Schondube
46. Inferring regions of concern for a wide-ranging species endemic to California. Mersee Madison-Villar, Andrew Bohonak, and Tod Reeder
47. An investigation of ecological function in replanted, degraded and non degraded mangrove forests of Menai bay, Zanzibar. Makame Kitwana Makame and Gregory Atambi
48. The mysid model of adaptive constraints in a rapidly changing environment. Jeffrey Markert, Denise Champlin, Jason Grear, Anne Kuhn, Sarah Winnicki, Mark Bagley, and Diane Nacci
49. Anthropogenic habitat alteration affects the form of natural selection in the brown anole, Anolis sagrei. Erin Marnocha, Ryan Calsbeek, and Thomas B. Smith
50. Change in species composition and phenotypic variation as a function of forest degradation, in Loma Alta, Ecuador. C.C. Martínez Rivera
51. Genomic analysis of hatch timing in coho salmon. Erin McClelland and Kerry Naish
52. Phenotypic responses of two oceanic island endemic bird species to recent anthropogenic habitat changes. Martim Melo
53. Local adaptation of maize landraces to an environmental gradient. Kristin L. Mercer and Hugo Perales Rivera
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
54. Human movement of fish obscures evolutionary history: Colorado’s native trout and their non-native genes. J. L. Metcalf, V. L. Pritchard, D. E. Cowley, S. M. Silverstri, J. S. Woods, J. B. Mitton, and A. P. Martin
55. Rapid natural selection for resistance to an introduced parasite of rainbow trout: preserving genetic diversity matters in changing environments. Mark P. Miller and E. Richard Vincent
56. Analysis of phenotypic and genetic variation in the endangered beach mouse. Lynne M. Mullen, Sacha Vignieri, Linda Botteger, Cynthia Steiner, Jeff Gore, and Hopi E. Hoekstra
57. Combining scientific and fist hand local knowledge for raising awareness on gorilla conservation in Cameroon; Great Apes conservation education in Lebialem Highlands. Denis Ndeloh and Louis Nkembi
58. The emergence of a hybrid fish in perturbed habitats. A. Nolte, K. Stemshorn, J. Freyhof, and D. Tautz
59. Properties of principal components analysis when applied to isolation-by-distance populations. John Novembre and Matthew Stephens
60. Trampsnails: genetic evidence for natural colonization and human- mediated introductions of the land snail Praticolella. Kathryn E. Perez and Cliff Cunningham
61. Strong artificial selection in the wild results in predicted small evolutionary change. Erik Postma, Jan Visser, and Arie J. van Noordwijk
62. Human impacts on the population genetic structure of cutthroat trout. V. L. Pritchard, K. Jones, and D. E. Cowley
63. Population connectivity in the recreationally and commercially targeted species, striped marlin. Catherine Purcell and Suzanne Edmands
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
64. Conservation of biodiversity and habitat destruction: do economic incentives based policies work? Conservation of Ibex (Capra sibirica hemalayanus) and Markhor in Arkari valley Chitral, Pakistan. Fazli Rabbi and Siegfried Bauer
65. Genetic structure and genetic diversity of natural populations of crabwood (Carapa guianensis Aulb). Andréa Raposo, Ana Y. Ciampi, Lúcia H. Wadt, and Elizabeth A. Veasey
66. The role of maternal effects in responses to human induced environmental change: acidification 7and amphibians. Katja Räsänen, Anssi Laurila, Fredrik Söderman, Micael Persson, and Juha Merilä
67. Responding to environmental change: can a need for breeding synchrony in common guillemots (Uria aalge) limit individual plastic responses? Thomas E. Reed, Sarah Wanless, Michael P. Harris, Morten Frederiksen, Loeske E.B. Kruuk, and Emma J. A. Cunningham
68. Evolutionary consequences of a rapidly evolving invasive species to the viability of a native threatened species. David C. Richards and Tristan Arrington
69. A follow up on the evidence of rapid evolutionary changes of gene expression profiles in farmed Atlantic salmon. Christian Roberge, Éric Normandeau, Sigurd Einum, Helga Guderley, and Louis Bernatchez
70. Elucidating the mechanisms of invasion success: novel molecular tools for the invasive Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus). Vinodkumar Saranathan and Michael A. Russello
71. Conservation genetics of the American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus): declining population size in an impacted population in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Shane Sarver, Carolyn Ferrell, Raeann Mettler, Garth Spellman, and Cynthia Anderson
72. Practical guidelines for incorporating evolutionary concepts into conservation biology. Martin A. Schlaepfer
73. Of Guppies and Clear-Cuts: Isolating the Role of Light in Contemporary Evolution. Amy K. Schwartz and Andrew P. Hendry
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
74. Changes in genetic diversity and population structure of Sacramento perch due to anthropogenic translocations to new environments. Rachel S. Schwartz and Bernie May
75. Invasive plant promotes hybridization and speciation in native host specialist insects. Dietmar Schwarz and Bruce A. McPheron
76. Implications of genetic diversity for the conservation in endangered bird species. Gernot Segelbacher
77. Effects of deforestation on the prevalence of blood-borne pathogens in African rainforest birds. Ravinder Sehgal, Anthony Chasar, Wolfgang Buermann, Camille Bonneaud, Sassan Saatchi, Gediminas Valkiūnas, and Thomas B. Smith
78. The role of selection, gene flow, and range edges in determining ecological responses to climate warming in the cut-leaved monkeyflower (Mimulus laciniatus). Jason P. Sexton
79. Floristical and phytosociological survey in the edge of Núcleo Cabuçu, Cantareira State Park, São Paulo, Brazil. Vanda S. Silva, Eduardo L. M. Catharino, Giancarlo C.X. Oliveira, and Elizabeth A. Veasey
80. Inferring past and recent evolutionary processes of Quetzals in a fragmented landscape. Sofia Solorzano, Allan J. Baker, and Ken Oyama
81. Impervious land cover predicts anthropogenic disturbance and variation in fitness of nesting house wrens (Troglodytes aedon). Pacifica Sommers, Louise Gava, Caitlin Kight, and John Swaddle
82. Cryptic genetic variation in a coniferous forest management indicator species (Aves, Certhiidae: Certhia americana). Garth M. Spellman, Raeann Mettler, Shane Sarver, and John Klicka
83. Rapid evolutionary divergence of pupfish morphology surpasses historical divergence. Craig A. Stockwell and Michael L. Collyer
84. Purging of deleterious recessive alleles during historical inbreeding reduces the magnitude of inbreeding depression. William R. Swindell and Juan L. Bouzat
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
85. Fitness and phenology in a marine bird (Uria aalge): Adaptation to changing ocean climate or recovery from artificial selection? William J. Sydeman, Peter Warzybok, Russell W. Bradley, and Ellie M. Cohen
86. Genetic structure of a native fish species, Etheostoma nigrum (Rafinesque) in the upper Midwest. Ali G. Tackett, Jeffrey S. Heilveil, and Craig A. Stockwell
87. Long term genetic consequences of intense hunting pressure on Scandinavian moose (Alces alces). Carl-Gustaf Thulin, Göran Ericsson, Kjell Danell, and Roger Bergström.
88. Variation in the major histocompatibility class IIDB gene region between polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated and reference populations of the mummichog fish, Fundulus heteroclitus. Joëlle Tirindelli, Sarah Cohen, Diane Nacci, and Denise Champlin
89. The effect of human-mediated interpopulation hybridization on population fitness and species interactions. Michelle Tseng
90. Life history and environmental variation interact to determine effective population to census size ratio. Thomas F. Turner, Megan J. Osborne, Gregory R. Moyer, Melissa A. Benavides, and Dominique Alò
91. Genetic variability and population structure of an island endemic rodent (Oryzomys couesi cozumelae): conservation implications. Ella Vázquez-Domínguez, Rodrigo Vega, and Alfredo D. Cuarón
92. U.S. EPA Partnerships & Climate Change. André Villaseñor
93. Reproductive failure and reduced progeny fitness: two genetic consequences of fragmentation in the widespread prairie plant Echinacea angustifolia. Stuart Wagenius
94. Evidence for habitat fragmentation altering within-population processes in wombats. Faith M. Walker, Paul Sunnucks, and Andrea C. Taylor
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
95. Project baseline: Preserving genetic materials for future studies on evolutionary change. Arthur E. Weis, Jeffrey K. Conner, Julie R. Etterson, Susan J. Mazer, and Ruth G. Shaw
96. The build-up of genetic structure during colonization of recently deglaciated habitat. Andrew R. Whiteley, Scott Gende, Anthony J. Gharrett, and David A. Tallmon
97. Effects of an invasive social wasp on endemic Hawaiian arthropods. Erin E. Wilson and David A. Holway
98. Dramatic resistance of the Atlantic tomcod population in the Hudson River to PCBs and Dioxin. Isaac Wirgin, Nirmal Roy, and R. Christopher Chambers
99. Evolutionary consequences of heavy metal contamination to deer mice and their intestinal microbial community. Samantha M. Wisely, Susan J. Brown, and Sanjeev Naranayan
100. The genetics of copper tolerance in Mimulus guttatus. Kevin Wright, David Lowry, Mark Macnair, and John Willis
101. Scale dependent responses of beetle genetic and phenotypic diversity to temporal variability. Gal Yaacobi and Dafna Kaufman
102. Effects of habitat fragmentation on pollinator communities in New England. Helen J. Young and Kristen Pelz
103. The Achilles' heel of DNA barcoding: mtDNA introgression in skipper butterflies. Evgueni V. Zakharov and Jessica J. Hellmann
104. Population responses to inbreeding and environmental perturbations: an experimental study. Audrey Zannese and Tim Benton
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN HUMAN-ALTERED ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT
Poster Presentation Abstracts (in alphabetical order)
Board # Windsor E. Aguirre1 and Michael A. Bell1. Rapid adaptation of sea-run threespine stickleback fish 1 after introduction to a lake. 1Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, USA.
Fisheries practices have numerous adverse effects on native fish populations, including extinction. In 1982, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game exterminated the native threespine stickleback from Loberg Lake, Alaska. A sample collected during extermination of the population indicated that it was a typical Alaskan lake-resident population. By 1990, a large stickleback population was re-established, but it resembled sea-run (anadromous) stickleback more closely than most lake populations in the region for every phenotypic trait we measured. Compared to lake-resident stickleback, anadromous stickleback typically have robust armor, more gill rakers, different body shape, and a pectoral fin located farther from the head. Annual samples of Loberg Lake stickleback reveal progressive divergence of all traits from the states of anadromous stickleback toward those of lake-resident populations. Anadromous populations are genetically diverse. Thus, when they colonize ecologically contrasting freshwater habitats, they can adapt rapidly through selection on standing variation. It is unclear whether this is a general property of naturally invasive species. However, our results suggest that reintroduction of genetically diverse founder populations of some species will result in persistence and rapid adaptation to habitats from which human activity has eliminated them.
Marina S. Ascunce1,2, Ann Marie Clark2, Rosa A. Franqui3, and Herbet N. Nigg1. Did Florida populations 2 of the root weevil Diaprepes abbreviatus L. come from Puerto Rico? A mitochondrial analysis of populations from Puerto Rico and Florida. 1University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred, Florida, USA; 2University of Florida, ICBR Genetic Analysis Laboratory, Gainesville, Florida, USA; 3Botanical Garden South, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Diaprepes abbreviatus L. is a root weevil that attacks more than 300 plants including citrus, sugarcane, potatoes, ornamental and native plants. It seriously affects Florida agriculture where it readily spreads. Recently it has been detected in California and Texas. This native Caribbean weevil, recorded for the first time in a citrus nursery at Apopka (Florida) in 1964, was thought to have been introduced through an ornamental plant shipment from Puerto Rico. To address this question and to describe the genetic structure of the populations, we sequenced 840 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) from 214 weevils, including 139 specimens from seven localities in Florida and 75 specimens from seven localities in Puerto Rico. In Florida, we found three haplotypes (COI-1, COI-2, COI-3) differing by one to two base pairs, with only one haplotype present in each population. In Puerto Rico, 26 haplotypes differing by 1 to 36 bp were present, and only two haplotypes were shared between two localities. Florida COI-1 and COI-2 haplotypes were found in three localities in Puerto Rico. This supports the idea that D. abbreviatus could have been introduced from Puerto Rico, however other potential sources in the Caribbean still need to be investigated with genetic markers such as microsatellites, which will allow fine scale resolution of the genetic structure of Diaprepes populations.
Jonathan W. Atwell 1, Goncalo C. Cardoso2, and Ellen D. Ketterson1. Evolutionary responses of 3 associated hormonal, behavioral, and morphological traits following colonization: conservation or potential? 1Department of Biology, Indiana University, USA; 2Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, USA.
Organisms are not random assemblages of traits, and selection is expected to favor divergent combinations of traits in different environments. Selection should also favor underlying physiological (endocrine) mechanisms that efficiently coordinate patterns of trait expression. When environments change, such mechanisms, depending on their nature, may or may not constrain patterns of adaptation. For example, the sex steroid testosterone is known to mediate key life-history trade-offs and have pleiotropic effects on physiological, behavioral, and morphological traits. The actions of testosterone are relatively conserved across vertebrates, and patterns of testosterone secretion may respond plastically or genetically to novel selection pressures. Thus, established hormone-phenotype relationships may constrain potential patterns of adaptive divergence for associated traits in a novel environment (evolutionary conservation hypothesis). Alternatively, the linkage between testosterone and target traits may be evolutionarily labile, in which case associated traits may evolve independently of hormone levels (evolutionary potential hypothesis). Our ongoing studies will assess the degree to which testosterone expression and associated social behavior and plumage traits have responded independently or in concert following recent colonization of a mild, coastal, urban environment by an ancestrally montane songbird, the dark-eyed junco. Our initial results highlight divergence in trait means and patterns of covariation in the new urban population.
Melinda Baerwald1, Ronald Hedrick2, and Bernie May1. Discovering genes associated with whirling 4 disease resistance using microarray analysis. 1Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, USA; 2Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of California Davis, USA.
The pathogen causing whirling disease in salmonids, Myxobolus cerebralis, is persistent and spreading in hatcheries and natural waters of the western USA. While a limited degree of resistance has been found in a few of the US rainbow trout strains, most of the native strains are extremely susceptible and have a high percentage of post-infection mortality. A European hatchery strain (Hofer) has evolved a high degree of resistance and was imported to the USA for selective breeding and experimental studies. In an effort to better understand the immune response of rainbow trout combating this disease, microarray analysis was used to examine global gene expression differences between resistant and susceptible rainbow trout strains in response to whirling disease infection. Specifically, we examined gene expression patterns in both blood and skin tissues using three microarray platforms from University of Victoria (GRASP 16k array), Oregon State University, and Michigan State University. We have discovered several candidate genes which provide insight into the genetic factors underlying resistance of rainbow trout to whirling disease.
Brittany S. Barker1, Fernando Torres-Perez1,2, R. Eduardo Palma2 and Joseph A. Cook1. Population 5 genetic structure of a rodent reservoir for Hantavirus, O. longicaudatus, in Chile and its human implications. 1Biology Department, University of New Mexico, USA; 2Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Ecología y Bioversidad and Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile.
Hantaviruses are emerging viruses in the Americas that cause the human disease Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome (HCPS). Hantaviruses are known to coevolve with their rodent hosts; therefore, determining genetically distinct units of rodent reservoirs can help identify unique strains of these viruses. Oligoryzomys longicaudatus, distributed in Chile and Argentina, is the rodent reservoir of Andes hantavirus. In Chile, this rodent occurs along a latitudinal gradient that encompasses three major ecogeographic regions (Mediterranean, Temperate, Patagonia) that have different land cover and densities of human populations. We assessed mtDNA cytochrome b sequences (about 900 bp) in 204 specimens from these three ecoregions to evaluate geographic structure and phylogeographic relationships of populations. Three clades were recovered from the phylogenetic trees, congruent with the three ecoregions. Coalescent analyses showed that two (Mediterranean and Temperate) out of the three clades are in demographic expansion. We compared these results with the relative number of seropositive O. longicaudatus and human HCPS cases. We propose that differential population structure may influence the frequency of seropositive O. longicaudatus individuals in populations, and that human population growth might be an important determinant in increasing human risk to contract HCPS.
Marissa L. Baskett1, Joshua S. Weitz2, Jonathan Dushoff2, Steven D. Gaines3, and Simon A. Levin2. 6 Models of rapid life history evolution in marine reserves. 1National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA; 2Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, USA; 3Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Human alteration of marine ecosystems through fisheries has changed the evolution of life history traits in intensively exploited species. We present an overview of our theoretical exploration of the potential for marine reserves (no-take zones) to alter this anthropogenic selection. Specifically, reserves are one management strategy proposed to protect against fisheries-based selection on growth and reproductive traits such as size at maturity. With a quantitative genetic model, we show that large marine reserves can protect against strong fisheries-based selection for earlier maturity, and, in doing so, enhance fisheries sustainability. In addition, by changing the spatial pattern of environmental heterogeneity, fragmenting a habitat into harvested and protected areas may affect the evolution of dispersal ability in managed species. With a game-theoretic model where temporal heterogeneity in productivity drives the evolution of dispersal, we show that whether habitat fragmentation shifts selection pressure to decreased or increased dispersal depends on the harvest dynamics in areas outside reserves. Such changes in dispersal would affect recommendations for appropriate reserve size and spacing. Overall, accounting for rapid evolutionary changes is critical to effective reserve design and fisheries management.
Katherine A. Beauchamp1, Mansour El-Matbouli2, E. Richard Vincent3, Ronald P. Hedrick4. Differences in 7 genetic diversity for mitochondrial DNA among hatchery and wild populations of Oncorhynchus mykiss with suspected resistance to Myxobolus cerebralis the causative agent of salmonid whirling disease. 1Fish Health Research Laboratory, Leetown Science Center, USGS, DOI Kearneysville, WV 25430 USA, [email protected]. 2Institute of Zoology, Fish Biology and Fish Diseases, University of Munich, Munich, 37, 80539 GER, [email protected]. 3Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Bozeman, MT, 59715 USA, [email protected]. 4Fish Health Laboratory, Department of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA, [email protected]
The dramatic decline in survival among wild rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) populations in the western United States has been attributed to Myxobolus cerebralis the causative agent of whirling disease. Laboratory studies have shown that a Hofer strain of rainbow trout reared in Germany since the early 1900’s has a higher resistance to whirling disease when compared with the Trout Lodge strain from Washington. Wild populations of rainbow trout with resistance to whirling disease have also been observed from Harrison Lake DeSmet, Montana. It will be important to identify the genetic roots of resistant strains that may be part of a breeding program for research to develop strains with greater resistance for stocking in whirling disease enzootic areas where naturally reproducing salmonids are no longer present. In this study, we utilized the sequence variability in the mitochondrial control region to assess the genetic relatedness among suspected resistant Hofer and DeSmet strains and the known susceptible Trout Lodge strain of rainbow trout. Analyses show that the three strains have genetic differences among the populations. This study will help form the foundation for developing mtDNA-based markers for assessing specific health risks to trout populations in whirling disease positive and negative watersheds.
Thomas Bøhn1 & Raul Primicerio2. The role of genetically engineered traits in future evolution. 1 8 Norwegian Institute of Gene Ecology, The Science Park, P.O. box 6418, N-9294, Norway. 2 Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University of Tromsø, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway.
Genetic engineering produces biological traits meant to favour organisms in a specific context. However, organisms can escape that context, and spread beyond human control. Thus, engineered traits may influence future evolution. We discuss the possible evolutionary implications of GE traits expected to enhance short term fitness in the wild. In particular, higher growth rates, increased disease resistance and extended environmental tolerances will modify ecological interactions, both in pristine and human altered ecosystems, by changing selective regimes. Information needed to assess the evolutionary implications of GE traits, i.e. genotype x environment interactions and traits expression and combination in hybrids, is presently lacking and should be addressed in future studies. We conclude that GE traits have a strong evolutionary potential and management decisions in the next decade will likely cause significant alterations in rates and direction of future evolution.
Andrew J. Bohonak1, Joshua Boys1, Robert Fisher2 and Amy G. Vandergast2. Comparative 9 phylogeography in southern California: Evolutionary processes and current reserve design. 1Department of Biology, San Diego State University, USA; 2U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, San Diego Field Station, USA
Protected areas most often encompass rare habitats, or “typical” exemplars of ecoregions and geomorphic provinces. This approach focuses on current biodiversity, but often ignores the evolutionary processes that control the gain and loss of biodiversity at all levels (e.g., genetic, ecological, organismal). We have established an evolutionary framework for southern California within which genetic biodiversity can be analyzed in the context of historical processes, future evolutionary potential and current reserve design. Southern California is characterized by high floral and faunal diversity, and high levels of cryptic diversity within species. We analyzed 21 mitochondrial DNA datasets from a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate species in this region to identify areas with common phylogeographic breaks and evolutionary histories. Our results suggest that there is significant concordance in phylogeographic histories for several subsets of the taxa. Multispecies concordance was explained better by watershed boundaries than by traditional ecoregion boundaries. Our analyses pinpoint several geographic regions where genetic divergence is consistently high, including the Tehachapi and San Bernardino Mountains and Palomar Mountain. This Gap analysis focusing on “evolutionary hotspots” also suggests that some areas of high genetic divergence (and consequently great evolutionary potential) fall mainly outside of protected lands.
Camille Bonneaud1, Irem Sepil1, Borja Milá1, Wolfgang Buermann1, Ravinder N.M. Sehgal1,2, Gediminas 10 Valkiūnas3, Tatjana A. Iezhova3, Sassan Saatchi1,4, Thomas B. Smith1,5. Effects of forest fragmentation on prevalence and host specificities of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus spp. in African rainforest birds. 1Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment, University of California at Los Angeles, USA; 2Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, USA; 3Institute of Ecology, Vilnius University, Lithuania; 4JPL, California Institute of Technology, USA; 5Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Los Angeles, USA.
Habitat fragmentation and deforestation are often thought to be implicated in the occurrence of epizootics and their likely transfer to humans as a result of increased contact. Understanding how habitat disturbance influences the prevalence of infectious diseases, as well as its effects on the host and geographic specificities of pathogens, therefore appears crucial to counter future outbreaks. To understand how parasite prevalence and host-specificity in wild bird populations are affected by deforestation, we screened fifteen species of African rainforest birds, from both undisturbed and disturbed forests, for the presence of avian hemosporidian parasites (species of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus). We identified eighteen Plasmodium and two Haemoproteus lineages. Although some lineages displayed broad host specificity by infecting species in different families, we found no clear evidence for an effect of habitat change on host- switching. However, infections with Plasmodium parasites differed significantly between disturbed and undisturbed forests. Using remote sensing data, we found that rainfall during the wet quarter and vegetation cover during the driest quarter correlated with infection while extremes of precipitation during the dry quarter were associated with decreased risks of infection. Our results support the idea that deforestation may have notable effects on host-parasite systems.
Vincent Bourret1, 2, Louis Bernatchez2, Patrice Couture1 & Peter G.C. Campbell1 Ecotoxicology of wild 11 yellow perch (Perca flavescens) populations chronically exposed to a polymetallic gradient: A genetic approach. 1Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Centre Eau, Terre et Environnement, Canada; 2Département de biologie, Université Laval, Canada.
In the regions of Sudbury, Ontario and Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, mineral exploitation has been considerable for decades, severely impacting the aquatic ecosystems. Numerous studies suggest that chronic metal exposure has exerted selective pressures leading to differences in metal tolerance and handling capacities. Evolutionary ecotoxicology recently emerged from the association of population genetics and ecotoxicology, but this general framework has not been extensively applied to wild populations, especially fishes. Using microsatellite loci, we were able to assess the role of cadmium and copper contamination as selective forces driving evolutionary changes in genetic diversity among 20 populations of wild yellow perch equally distributed in the two mining regions mentioned above. We examined the relationship between genetic diversity and metal contamination and found significant correlations at both population and individual levels (within population). Overall gene diversity of populations was negatively correlated with cadmium contamination (p<0,001; r2=0,51) suggesting a global heterozygosity-fitness-correlation (HFC). We observed the same correlation between gene diversity at locus Pfla L1 and copper contamination (p=0,005; r2=0,36) suggesting in this case a local HFC and therefore a possible association of this locus with a gene related to copper tolerance. We also found that internal relatedness, an index of individual diversity, presented the opposite tendency as most contaminated individuals were more diverse than less contaminated ones in most populations. Our results therefore reveal that a few decades of metal contamination had significantly impacted patterns of genetic diversity observed among populations of wild yellow perch in mining areas.
Juan L. Bouzat1, Jeff A. Johnson2, John E. Toepfer3, Scott A. Simpson4, Terry L. Esker4, and Ronald L. 12 Westemeier5. Bird translocations as an effective tool for the genetic restoration of isolated populations. 1Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA; 2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; 3Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Plover, WI 54467, USA; 4Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Newton, IL 62448, USA; 5Illinois Natural History Survey, Effingham, IL 62401, USA.
Translocations and reintroductions are becoming increasingly popular as appropriate management strategies for the genetic restoration of endangered species and populations. However, although a few studies have shown that the introduction of novel alleles has reversed the detrimental effects of inbreeding over the short-term (i.e., genetic rescue), it is not clear how effective translocations are for both increasing population viability over the long-term and maintaining neutral variation that may be adaptive in the future (i.e., genetic restoration). We show that bird translocations into a wild population of greater prairie- chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) in southeastern Illinois were effective in both removing detrimental variation associated with inbreeding depression as well as restoring neutral variation to historical levels. Furthermore, we found that although translocations resulted in immediate increases in fitness, the demographic recovery and long-term viability of the population appears to be limited by the availability of suitable habitat. Our results demonstrate that although translocations can be effective management tools for the genetic restoration of wild populations on the verge of extinction, their long-term viability may not be warranted unless the initial conditions that led to most species declines (e.g., habitat loss) are reversed.
Omar Chassin-Noria 1, Alberto Abreu-Grobois 2, Peter H. Dutton 3, Ken Oyama 4. Conservation genetics 13 of the east Pacific green turtle (Chelonia mydas) in Michoacan, Mexico. 1Facultad de Biología, UMSNH, Morelia, Michoacán México; 2 ICMyL, UNAM, Mazatlan, Sinaloa Mexico; 3 NOAA-NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla CA, USA; CIEco, UNAM, Morelia, Michoacán, México.
The main continental nesting rookeries of the east Pacific green turtle (EPGT), Chelonia mydas ,on the Michoacán (Mexico) coast suffered drastic population declines following intense exploitation in the 1960s- 1970s with annual abundance of nesting females plummeting from about 25,000 to an average of about 1,400 between 1982-2001. Analyses of data from three nDNA microsatellite loci and 400 bp mtDNA control region sequences from a total of 123 nesting females sampled from four Michoacán rookeries found no evidence of population sub-structuring. The recent order of magnitude reduction in the population size shows no apparent impact on genetic diversity in either control region sequences (overall h
= 0.48; π = 0.0036) or microsatellite loci (overall Na = 20.8; Hexp = 0.895). Our estimates of annual 3 effective female population size (Nef; from θ = 2Neμ ) of 1.9-2.3 x 10 , in spite of being an order of magnitude below historical records, appear to be sufficient to allow recovery of this population without significant loss of genetic diversity. These findings highlight the importance of continued conservation to reverse the decline of this population before it becomes vulnerable to genetic erosion.
Amanda J. Chunco and Karin Pfennig. A hybrid zone between two species of spadefoot toads. 14 Biology Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
As species introductions become common, increasing numbers of closely related species will come into secondary contact and risk hybridizing. Because the resulting gene flow between species can have deleterious consequences for endemics, understanding the outcome of hybridization is vitally important in conservation. Generally, hybridization may result in: 1) species boundaries being strengthened through reinforcement; 2) one species being driven extinct; 3) the erosion of species boundaries resulting in a single species; or 4) the formation of a third ‘hybrid’ species. Which outcome occurs depends on the fitness of hybrids, which may in turn be dependent on the environment in which hybridization occurs. We used spadefoot toads, Spea multiplicata and S. bombifrons to assess the possible outcomes of hybridization in a relatively recent hybrid zone. Hybridization between these species may have resulted from human disturbance, which has led to a range expansion of S. bombifrons and altered the selective environment of the species’ tadpoles. Using GIS tools, we mapped hybrid frequency across the hybrid zone to assess what ecological parameters predict hybridization. We also measured hybrid fitness under different competitive environments. These data are used to predict the outcome of hybridization and to discuss the general conservation implications of hybridization. Matthew P. Corsi, Paul Spruell, Robb F. Leary, and Fred W. Allendorf. Understanding the Causes and 15 Fates of Hybrid Swarms. University of Montana Conservation Genetics Laboratory, Division of Biological Sciences and Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812
Hybridization due to nonnative species introductions is a significant threat to many native taxa and is increasing due to human activities. While an extensive body of literature has examined the roles that natural selection, sexual selection, and dispersal patterns play in the maintenance of hybrid zones, there has been little consideration of the processes involved in the formation of hybrid swarms. Spreading hybrid swarms may lead to the loss of native genotypes (genomic extinction) and the formation of evolutionarily novel hybrid taxa that do not function in a manner ecologically equivalent to the native taxa (ecological extinction). In addition, hybrid swarms may not be viable during periods of environmental stress (demographic extinction). We present a framework to explore the evolutionary and ecological processes that lead to hybrid swarms. We then use the framework to describe the expected genetic and demographic patterns leading to the three extinction outcomes described above. We illustrate our framework by examining hybridization between westslope cutthroat trout and rainbow trout. The predicted genetic and demographic patterns defined by this framework will be empirically testable and will allow us to better understand and manage this native species.
Chris Darimont1,2 , Paul C. Paquet2,3, & Thomas E. Reimchen1. Modern Human Predators as Agents of 16 Selection. 1Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Canada. 2Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Bella Bella, Canada. 3Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Canada.
Humans are now dominant agents of mortality with the potential for influencing evolution in fish and wildlife populations. In contrast with many predators of vertebrate prey, we target large, reproductive-aged adults. As a result, an emerging literature suggests that morphological traits such as body size are decreasing, whereas reproductive investment is increasing and occurring earlier and at smaller sizes. These changes are rapid. Evolutionary rates we calculated or reported from 23 papers were an order of magnitude higher than in comparable studies of contemporary evolution. Phenotypic changes are most rapid at onset of exploitation, possibly because decreased genetic variance following continued directional selection slows subsequent change. Moreover, human-induced life history changes can reduce population growth, thus imperiling populations beyond numerical exploitation. Changes in the selective landscape (akin to treatments), moratoria (controls), and multiple populations (replicates) – rare in studies to date – would provide evidence for evolutionary change while potentially also yielding conservation benefits.
Natalie G. Dawson1, S.O. MacDonald, A.G. Hope, and J.A. Cook Endemic lineages reflect hotspots 17 of biodiversity within the Alexander Archipelago, Alaska. 1Biology Department and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, USA.
Recent estimates suggest that 70% of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are found on island systems. Traditionally, biodiversity is measured based on the number of species within a given region, while phylogeographic analyses provide finer resolution of hotspots by capturing the rich evolutionary history of species found within these regions. In some cases, reciprocally-monophyletic lineages may be endemic to a particular island or island system and represent long-term isolation. By examining island and nearby continental faunas at the lineage level rather than the species-level, hidden diversity in complex landscapes may be uncovered. These new perspectives can be used to identify areas of high conservation concern.
The mammalian fauna of southeast Alaska is spread across 2,000 islands along the North Pacific Coast. Phylogeographic studies have provided a detailed view of diversity by revealing genetically distinctive lineages endemic to the archipelago. Traditional island biogeography analyses at the species-level suggested a nested fauna, formed primarily by isolation. Re-analysis using lineages as the biogeographic units, reveals distinctive patterns between endemic lineages and lineages that have recently colonized the region. We constructed biogeographic regions of concern across the Alexander Archipelago based on evolutionarily distinct lineages and analyzed the effects of human disturbance on those areas of high evolutionary potential.
Koen De Gelas1, Jeroen Van Houdt², Filip A.M. Volckaert², and Daniel De Charleroy1. Fishatlas: 18 integrating available and new genetic data on Belgian freshwater fish for conservation management. 1Aquaculture Research Centre, Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Belgium; ²Laboratory of Aquatic ecology, K.U. Leuven, Belgium.
Despite its importance, knowledge on the intraspecific genetic diversity of the Belgian fauna and flora is either missing, incomplete or scattered among research institutes and studies. Therefore, this information is not readily accessible to governmental agencies responsible for conservation management. The main goal of this project is to provide the necessary tools (e-atlas) to facilitate the implementation of information on intraspecific genetic diversity and habitat quality in conservation management. The data will be integrated in a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform to facilitate access and allow spatial analysis. The final delivered output will consist of an interactive tool integrating genetic diversity maps and the environmental factors influencing the genetic structure of populations. The methodology will be demonstrated in a case study on the Belgian freshwater fish fauna. In Belgium, a large number of indigenous fish species can be considered endangered or under threat, requiring urgent actions. Furthermore, large-scale restocking programs exist to support natural populations but lack complete integration of all available but scattered genetic and habitat quality data. Therefore, comprehensive and easily accessible information on intraspecific genetic diversity of freshwater fishes seems indispensable for a sustainable conservation policy.
Joseph D. DiBattista1. Patterns of genetic variation in anthropogenically impacted populations. 19 1Redpath Museum and Department of Biology, McGill University, Canada.
Genetic variation is critical for allowing natural populations to adapt to their changing environment, and yet the effects of human disturbance on genetic variation in the wild are poorly understood. Different types of human disturbances may genetically impact natural populations in a predictable manner and so the aim of this study was to provide an overview of these changes using a quantitative literature review. I examined both allozyme and microsatellite estimates of genetic variation from peer-reviewed journals, using the mean number of alleles per locus and expected heterozygosity as standardized metrics. Populations within each study were categorized according to the type of human disturbance experienced (“hunting/harvest”, “habitat fragmentation”, or “pollution”), and taxon-specific, as well as time- and context- dependent disturbance effects were considered. I found that human disturbances are associated with weak, but consistent changes in neutral genetic variation within natural populations. The direction of change was dependent on the type of human disturbance experienced, with some forms of anthropogenic challenges consistently decreasing genetic variation from background patterns (habitat fragmentation), whereas others had no effect (hunting/harvest) or even slightly increased genetic variation (pollution). These same measures appeared sensitive to both the time of origin and duration of the disturbance as well.
Cathy Duvivier, Robby Stoks and Luc De Meester. Fish-stocking imposes rapid micro-evolution on 20 the zooplankter Daphnia. Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Ch. Deberiotstraat 32, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Until recently ecology and evolutionary biology have developed along separate lines. Mainly because the time and space at which evolutionary processes operate are thought to be different than those of most ecological processes. The growing evidence of rapid evolutionary responses, however, has shifted this paradigm. Predation is important in structuring communities and may drive evolution in prey populations. Fish stocking by humans may therefore drastically change the selection environment in local ponds and drive rapid evolution. First we will study these evolutionary effects of human-altered predator environments on the water flea, Daphnia magna using an experimental evolution approach in outdoor mesocosms. Additionally, we evaluate whether plant structure, the presence of competitors and the population of origin mediate the fish-induced micro-evolution. The resulting full factorial design was replicated three times in 170L mesocosms (48 mesocosms in total). During two years population dynamics and life history traits will be monitored. In a final stage the locally adapted populations will be used to carry out experiments on species sorting in communities, quantifying the degree to which micro-evolutionary responses may impact community composition, and to evaluate whether or not adaptive evolutionary responses act as buffer against species shifts in communities upon environmental changes.
Cécile Fauvelot1,2, Daniel F.R Cleary2,3, and Steph B.J Menken2. Parallel responses of species and 21 genetic diversities of Indonesian butterflies to disturbance in tropical rainforests. 1Environmental Science, University of Bologna at Ravenna, Via S. Alberto 163, I-48100 Ravenna, Italia; 2Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, PO Box 94766, 1090 GT Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 3National Museum of Natural History, ‘Naturalis’, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands.
Species diversity within communities and genetic diversity within species are two fundamental levels of biodiversity. We investigated the short term impact of disturbance on butterfly species diversity, as well as on the genetic diversity and structure of two Lycaenidae species. Forest fragments were sampled from five landscapes in East Kalimantan (Borneo, Indonesia) differentially disturbed by selective logging and the 1997/98 El Niño Southern Oscillation-(ENSO) induced fires. Sampling occurred before (in 1997) and after the forest fires (in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2004). Both targeted species underwent serious population size reductions following 1997/98 ENSO-induced drought and fires, like most of butterfly species. We found that both strong spatial and temporal correlations exist between species- and allelic-richness across affected rainforest habitats. Our results suggest that the 1997/98 ENSO-induced drought and fires caused massive reductions in both species diversity and species genetic diversity. Observed genetic rescues were linked to population location relative to patches of unburned forest (and thus to source populations). Coupled with evidence that changes in species richness are a direct result of local extirpation, these data further suggest that forces governing variation at the two levels operate over parallel and short timescales, with serious implications for biodiversity recovery following disturbance.
Fenberg, P.B.1 and Roy, K1 The effects of size-selective harvesting on the population biology of a 22 sex-changing limpet, Lottia gigantea. 1Section of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, University of California, San Diego.
Human harvesting of coastal marine species often preferentially targets the largest individuals in a population. A comparison of historical museum records and modern field surveys indicate that body sizes of southern California intertidal gastropods have steadily declined over the past 100 years. However, it is not clear how reduced body size affects life history, ecology and reproductive potential of these species. In this study we focus on the Owl limpet, Lottia gigantea because its unique life history allows for an in depth look at the effects of size-selective harvesting of this species through time and space. Being a protandric hermaphrodite, that sequentially changes sex from male to female, L. gigantea is particularly susceptible to selective harvesting; large individuals preferentially harvested are predominately territorial females (males are non-territorial). Field surveys of sex ratios show that males are changing sex at smaller sizes and earlier ages at exploited sites in accordance with what life history theory predicts. A combination of historical data, field surveys and genetics will provide for a comprehensive analysis of the effects of size-selective harvesting on this ecologically important member of the intertidal community.
Steven J. Franks1 and Arthur E. Weis1. Climate change alters phenology and gene flow in an annual 23 plant. 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-2525
Climate change has affected the ecological dynamics of many species and is expected to impose selection on ecologically important traits. We investigated the evolutionary response of an annual plant, Brassica rapa, to a recent climate fluctuation resulting in a multi-year drought. Ancestral (pre-drought) genotypes were raised with descendent (post-drought) genotypes and hybrids under short and long season conditions. Descendent genotypes flowered earlier than ancestors, showing that the abbreviated growing seasons caused by drought led to the evolution of earlier flowering. Experiments confirmed that drought selected for early flowering, that flowering time was heritable, and that selection intensities in the field were more than sufficient to account for the observed evolutionary change. Selection for drought escape thus appears to have caused adaptive evolution in just a few generations. We also found that plants were adapted to both local conditions over space and recent conditions over time. Furthermore, the drought caused changes in the flowering schedules that led to decreased reproductive isolation both within and between populations. Thus changes in climate are likely to cause phenological shifts, with potentially complex and far-reaching consequences for mating patterns, gene flow and evolution. Management and policy decisions should take these complex evolutionary dynamics into consideration.
Dylan J. Fraser1 and Jeffrey A. Hutchings1. Fitness and phenotypic consequences of 24 multigenerational hybridization between farmed and wild salmon from two divergent populations. 1Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 1J1
Multigenerational hybridization between artificially-selected organisms and their wild relatives might elicit undesirable evolutionary changes in wild populations. To what extent are such changes manifested through hybridization between farmed and wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) populations with contrasting life history differentiation? Using common garden experimentation, we compared several fitness-related traits between crosses of two divergent Atlantic salmon populations from Nova Scotia, the major farmed Atlantic salmon strain used in aquaculture in the region, and their hybrids (F1, F2, backcrosses). If hybridization affects fitness within wild populations, we expected lower survival in the offspring of farmed- wild hybrids relative to wild salmon, and considerable deviations in the phenotypic expression of hybrids from the ‘normal’ phenotypic trait distribution of either wild population. Results suggested an overall negative effect of hybridization between farmed and wild salmon in eastern North America. Importantly, however, there was a positive association between the degree to which population-pairs differed in a suite of traits and the extent to which hybridization effects were displayed, suggesting that the effects of farmed- wild hybridization are, to a certain degree, predictable. We consider how our results can be applied to help mitigate the potential evolutionary effects of farmed-wild hybridization for divergent regional groups of salmon.
Michael G. Gardner1,2, Annabel Smith1, Aaron Fenner1, and C. Michael Bull1. Restricted gene flow 25 among populations of the endangered pygmy bluetongue lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis. 1School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. 2School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity, University of Adelaide, Australia 5005.
The pygmy bluetongue lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis (Scincidae), inhabits spider holes in degraded, native grasslands in the mid-north region of South Australia. For several years the species was considered extinct, but since its rediscovery in 1992, 22 populations have been discovered over an approximately 100 km range. Although little is known about the history of the grasslands in this region, mining and agricultural practices have severely impacted the landscape and habitat degradation and fragmentation are the primary threats to the pygmy bluetongue lizards survival. Remnant native grasslands are patchily distributed, separated by areas of unsuitable habitat and invaded with several exotic plant species. Tiliqua adelaidensis is currently listed as endangered on the IUCN red list. We used data from 16 microsatellite loci to examine the genetic structure among populations of the pygmy bluetongue lizard. We found levels of genetic diversity among T. adelaidensis populations were high and similar among sites. Levels of inbreeding (FIS) were low in all populations examined. Pairwise FST values were low but significant for all but one population pair. A significant relationship existed between pairwise FST/(1- FST) and geographic distance indicating isolation by distance over a large geographical scale.
Richard S. Gejji1, James J. Boyle1, Ward B. Watt3, Mark S. Alber1 and Jessica J. Hellmann2. Evolutionary 26 responses of a butterfly population to climate change – explorations with a stochastic, individual- based model. 1Department of Mathematics and 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA; 3Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94306 USA.
Populations may evolve in response to anthropogenic climate change, altering the frequency of alleles and enabling population persistence. To examine the potential effect of mean increases in temperature on the evolutionary dynamics of populations, we built a simulation model based on a well-studied and particularly illustrative butterfly, Colias spp. This model considers a population composed of three genotypes where each genotype confers a sensitivity to heat stress and a probability of flight given an environmentally- determined body temperature. Flight, in turn, is the essential component of organismal fitness. Homozygotes are either heat-tolerant (AA) or efficient (BB) in their flight, and the heterozygote (AB) has relatively high heat tolerance and flight efficiency. Under ambient temperature, a polymorphism is maintained with a predominance of the heat-tolerant allele. When we increased the temperature, we found a surprising result: higher temperatures increase the frequency of the heat-intolerant (or flight efficient) allele, A. The variance in the allele frequencies among simulations also increased when the temperature is elevated over ambient controls. Our simulations indicate that global warming will increase the frequency of the heat-intolerant allele and ultimately will drive the populations to extinction.
Aleksandra Gondek1, Jacek Radwan1,2. MHC versus microsatellite diversity in spotted suslik 27 Spermophilus suslicus populations from two different parts of its range. 1Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland. 2Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Fragmentation of populations leads to depletion of genetic variation but balancing selection can, to some degree, prevent this process. Specifically, highly polymorphic MHC genes, coding for proteins crucial in vertebrate immune response, are thought to be under balancing selection and therefore retain some degree of polymorphism despite population bottlenecks. We compared genetic variation in MHC DRB genes and microsatellite (neutral) loci in spotted suslik populations located in two different parts of its range. We tested genetic variation in 10 populations severely affected by habitat loss and size reductions and located at the edge of the species range. They were compared with 4 populations from the main range, occupying habitat with higher levels of connectivity. In the edge populations we demonstrated extremely high microsatellite interpopulation differentiation and significantly reduced genetic variation. In contrast, the populations from the main range showed higher levels of within-population variability and considerably weaker genetic structuring. We found 8 MHC alleles in the main range populations and 7 alleles in the edge populations, but the pattern of MHC diversity was similar to that of microsatellites indicating the role of recent drift in shaping variability of MHC genes.
Jennifer L. Gow1, Janette W. Boughman2, Matt Groenenboom3, Marian Sniatynski1, Dolph Schluter1, 28 Catherine L. Peichel4, and Eric B. Taylor1. Speciation in reverse: the collapse of a threespine stickleback species pair highlights the fragility of reproductive barriers between evolutionarily young species. 1Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Canada; 2Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA; 3Bioinformatics Group, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; 4Division of Human Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, USA.
Historically, six small lakes in British Columbia contained a sympatric species pair of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Having evolved postglacially, these sticklebacks are considered biological species because each pair member is morphologically, ecologically and genetically distinct, and because they are strongly reproductively isolated from one another. Their restricted range places them at risk of extinction, with one pair already extinct and another under threat from a suspected collapse into a hybrid swarm. We conducted morphological and genetic analyses of this latter pair from Enos Lake to test the hypothesis that it is collapsing into a hybrid swarm. Both strands of evidence showed a clear breakdown: two morphological clusters evident in 1977 and 1988 were replaced by one highly variable cluster by 1997; two genetically distinct populations found in 1994 disintegrated into one genetic population, which contained hybrids, by 1997. This scenario contrasts sharply with the two distinct gene pools occurring in the other extant species pairs. Indeed, these results confirm earlier reports suggesting that the Enos Lake pair is at risk of extinction from elevated levels of hybridization. Although the precise mechanism(s) responsible for phenomenon is unknown, the demise of this species pair follows the appearance of an exotic crayfish.
Judah Grossman and Kevin J. Rice. Rapid evolution of a desert plant invader in response to 29 elevated atmospheric CO2 at the Nevada Desert FACE Facility. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California – Davis, USA.
Elevated atmospheric CO2 and the introductions of exotic species are both global phenomena that present novel selective challenges for native biota and ecosystems. The interaction of these human- induced changes has rarely been considered. In trying to understand how global changes in the levels of greenhouse gases may affect the spread of invasive species, it is critical to understand whether exotic species can evolve in response to elevated atmospheric CO2. We examined the potential for rapid evolutionary response of a desert grass invader (Bromus rubens) to elevated atmospheric CO2 in the field at the Nevada Desert Free Air CO2 Enrichment Facility (NDFF). Using a series of common garden and growth chamber experiments, we have detected significant genetic differences in ecophysiological traits between populations of B. rubens exposed to ambient and elevated levels of atmospheric CO2. Stomatal conductance and seasonal water-use efficiency were significantly lower in populations exposed toelevated atmospheric CO2. These responses are what one might expect for plants under elevated atmospheric CO2 and probably reflect a down-regulation of photosynthetic assimilation. It is remarkable (and a bit disconcerting) that there have been evolutionary responses in complex physiological traits within these weed populations in less than seven years.
AnnMarie S. Hwang1 and Suzanne Edmands1. The fate of mixed populations: Exploring the 30 outcomes of many generations of experimental hybridization under both benign and stressful conditions. 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, USA.
Human activities, including the farming of fish and domestic crops, have resulted in an increase of anthropogenically induced hybridization events. With concerns about invasive species and translocation programs, the success of conservation efforts will be aided by our ability to predict the outcomes of hybridizing populations. The intertidal copepod Tigriopus californicus is a highly tractable system for assessing the consequences of hybridization over multiple generations. In our lab, previous studies under benign conditions have shown significant hybrid breakdown, but also suggest rapid recovery. This long- term study examines experimental hybrid populations reared under constant salinity stress and surveyed at regular intervals for morphometric, molecular and fitness components. We are currently one year into this 15 month experiment and we anticipate being able to collect data through 13 generations of hybridization. In particular we are interested in determining (1) if environmental stress alters the magnitude or duration of outbreeding depression and (2) whether or not hybridization can generate new genetic variants that are favored under environmental stress. This project provides an initial example of the long-term consequences of hybridization under both benign and stressful conditions in a rigorous way that would be difficult to achieve in most threatened populations.
Ayaz Hyder1, Brian Leung1,2, and Zewei Miao3. Integrating data, biological and decision models for 31 invasive species management: Application to leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula).1Department of Biology, McGill University, Canada; 2School of Environment, McGill University, Canada; 3Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, USA.
Invasive species are a major cause of environmental change, and are often costly to control. Decision theory should offer managers guidance to formulate optimal allocation of resources. Unfortunately, current decision theory models typically do not consider the invasion dynamics or use ‘toy data’ in theoretical models. We develop a decision theory model which integrates population dynamics, spread, uncertainty, and temporal changes in management policies. We apply this model to leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula), a high-priority invasive weed in North America. Using field data, we first construct a biological model which includes stochastic population dynamics and spatial spread. We integrate this model with decision theory using stochastic dynamic programming. We consider three control strategies: no control, bio-control and herbicide control. Optimal strategies are determined for invasion states at multiple time horizons. Optimal strategy is dependent on the current density and area invaded and varies with time horizon, therefore dynamic control is important in management programs. Bio-control is the most frequent optimal strategy for all time horizons but decreases at time horizons >34 years. Herbicide control and no control are less frequently the optimal strategies but frequency of herbicide control increases after a time horizon of ≥ 20 years.
Jennifer Ison1,2 and Stuart Wagenius2. Flowering phenology and the evolution of fragmented prairie 32 plant populations. 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA; 2Institute for Plant Conservation, Chicago, Botanic Garden, USA.
The North American tallgrass prairie is one of the most fragmented ecosystems worldwide with less than 1% of the original habitat remaining. Remnant prairie plant populations exhibit spatial genetic structure and loss of genetic diversity. Population isolation can lead to flowering phenology differentiation among remnants. A plant’s flowering phenology is often similar year to year due to both environmental and genetic factors. This positive assortative mating by flowering time amplifies population differentiation by increasing temporal isolation and fitness differences. We use Echinacea angustifolia as a model prairie species to study temporal structuring in eight remnant populations in western Minnesota using two common environment experiments. In the first experiment we investigate population differentiation in flowering phenology of plants originating from eight nearby remnant populations. The second study evaluates crosstype (inbred, random, and outbred) effects on flowering phenology. Inbred plants started flowering almost a week earlier and for a significantly shorter duration than randomly mated plants. Both flowering time and duration significantly influence seed set. Finally, we determined flowering consistency between 2005 and 2006 and demonstrate how flowering phenology influences reproductive fitness. We discuss the implications of flowering phenology on the conservation and ongoing evolution of prairie plants in fragmented habitat.
M.K. Kanaga1, M.E. Pfrender1, R.J. Ryel2, K.E. Mock2. Genetic and phenotypic diversity in Western 33 aspen. 1Department of Biology, Utah State University; 2Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University.
Intraspecific genetic variation and genetic diversity have been little appreciated in ecological studies. Evolutionary theory predicts that genetic diversity is important to long-term persistence in a changing environment, but only a few empirical studies have shown that genetic diversity can affect community and ecosystem properties. I describe a common garden experiment planted last spring to examine the effects of genetic diversity in quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) on resource use efficiency and stability. The experimental design will address the interaction of drought stress and diversity on thirteen aspen genotypes grown in monoculture and in genotypically diverse mixtures. Drought stress is a major factor in Western landscapes and is of particular interest under anthropogenically altered climate conditions. I also describe preliminary results showing significant variation among aspen genotypes in all measured phenotypic traits, including structural, morphological and growth characteristics. This variation has a genetic basis, with broad-sense heritability estimates (H2) ranging from 0.23-0.58.
Rebecca H. Kao, Cynthia S. Brown, Ruth A. Hufbauer. The role of local adaptation in the spread of an 34 invader: Recent range expansion of Bromus tectorum. Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management Department, Colorado State University, USA.
Evolutionary change resulting in genetic differentiation can be an important mechanism of spread into new environments. We evaluated the evolutionary changes associated with the recent expansion of Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) into high elevation habitat in its introduced range. It is not known if this range expansion is due to environmental change, genetic change, morphological or physiological change (plasticity), or if B. tectorum is a generalist that can tolerate a broad range of environmental conditions and is opportunistically expanding its range. Using microsattelites, we genotyped individuals from low and high elevation populations from throughout the Rocky Mountains. We found no indication of neutral genetic variation between high and low elevation sites. When grown in a common garden, we found differences in size and growth between low and high elevation sites. The difference in morphological traits but not neutral genetic traits suggests B. tectorum is responding to different selective regimes at high and low elevations. This is the first step in a series of experiments addressing the role of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in this recent range expansion. Additionally, we plan to explore the role of environmental change (e.g., changes in nitrogen, temperature, and precipitation) in this range expansion.
Madhusudan Katti and Karl Kraft. If you build it, who will come? Casting an evolutionary eye on 35 ecological restoration. Department of Biology, California State University, Fresno, USA.
Biodiversity loss under human landscape alteration is often sought to be reversed through ecological restoration. Restoration ecology, an increasingly significant element of the practical conservationist’s toolkit, represents an effort to accelerate natural successional processes whereby biological communities may recover following human impacts. Most restoration projects, under logistical, economic, and knowledge constraints, focus on restoring habitat by reintroducing a subset of the native flora, hoping the remaining plant and animal species from the native community return on their own. Research / monitoring efforts therefore emphasize the rapid recovery of ecosystem processes, and have recently begun to address recovery of functional groups in communities. Here we present a critical review of literature on riparian restoration (a precursor to our field research on faunal recovery in California’s river systems) to argue that restoration projects are an underexploited opportunity (“natural” experiments) for evolutionary ecologists to understand basic processes underlying the assembly and evolution of biological communities. We call for greater efforts to bridge the gap between understanding processes in the ecological (where current efforts are concentrated) vs. the evolutionary timeframe (where the true implications for biodiversity will be played out). An evolutionary perspective will provide theoretical insights for community ecology and guide future restoration.
Banugopan Kesavaraju, Kavitha Damal & Steven A. Juliano. Does the native predator Corethrella 36 appendiculata determine the invasive success of the mosquito Aedes albopictus? Department of Biology, Illinois State University, Normal, IL-61790
Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito and a vector of arboviruses like West Nile. The native predatory larvae of Corethrella appendiculata feed on mosquito larvae like Ochlerotatus triseriatus, a native mosquito, and A. albopictus. In the presence of predation risk, O. triseriatus larvae reduce activity to a greater extent than do A. albopictus. We tested whether the anti-predatory behaviors or life histories of A. albopictus evolve over generations in response to controlled selection by C. appendiculata predation. Selection caused no change in A. albopictus behaviors but days to pupation increased in the predation regime compared to the control regime (i.e., random removal of larvae). In a field survey for the presence and abundances of the three species at 12 sites in Florida, the abundance of C. appendiculata was greater in tree holes (forested areas), and was positively associated with O. triseriatus and negatively associated with A. albopictus. Aedes albopictus were dominant and their abundances in developed urban areas were twice as great as those found in forested areas. Our results support the hypothesis that differential behavioral responses to this predator contribute to the limited impacts of the invader in forested habitats, and suggest that evolution of life histories may occur.
Anne Kidd1, Jeff Bowman1,2, Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde1. Genetic impacts of ranch mink on wild mink 37 populations. 1 Biology Department, Laurentian University, Canada; 2 Wildlife Research and Development Section, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Canada.
The introduction of cultivated species into a natural context is widely considered a threat to native biodiversity because of the disruption of local adaptation via the introduction of maladaptive genes. The American mink (Mustela vison) is farmed for its fur and selectively bred for traits including fur colour, temperament and size. The fur farming industry is active within the natural range of the American mink but despite a history of accidental escapes and deliberate releases, to date there has been no effort made to ascertain the presence and impact of farmed mink on wild mink populations. Using six populations of American mink in Ontario, Canada (two each of farmed, wild and putatively ‘mixed’) we examined genetic, morphological, and behavioural differences among these populations, predicting that the putatively mixed populations would display intermediate and more variable behaviour, morphology, and allelic variation than either farmed or wild populations. In addition, we expected to find more gene flow between mink farms and the putative ‘mixed’ populations than between the farms and wild populations. Our results suggest the possibility of outbreeding depression and may explain a recently documented decline in wild mink populations in Ontario.
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Jun Kitano1, David A. Beauchamp2, Seiichi Mori3, Takanori Nakano4 and Catherine L. Peichel1. Impact of 38 human development on contemporary evolution in threespine stickleback fish. 1Division of Human Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, USA; 2School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, USA; 3Biological Laboratory, Gifu-keizai University, Japan; 4Research Department, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Japan
Human development can influence the evolutionary trajectory of animal species by changing selection regimes as well as migration rates between divergent populations. The threespine stickleback is a great model system for understanding this intricate process because geographical and population variation is well documented, the evolutionary response to several selection regimes has been extensively characterized, and many genetic markers are available for analyzing population structure. We are investigating morphological evolution in threespine stickleback in Lake Washington (Seattle, WA) that has occurred during the past 50 years. During this time, the environment of the lake has changed dramatically as a result of human development. First, human activity led to eutrophication of the lake, which was then mitigated by diverting the sewage in the mid 1960s. Second, a fish ladder was constructed in late 1970s to facilitate the migration of anadromous fish. Our morphological analysis of contemporary and historical samples has revealed that changes in body armor, body size, and feeding structures have occurred during this time. With the use of genetic analysis, isotope analysis, and selection experiments in seminatural ponds, we are trying to understand the relativecontribution of changes in migration patterns and selection regimes to this example of contemporary evolution.
R. Brian Langerhans1 and Craig A. Layman2. Human-induced habitat modification drives rapid and 39 predictable morphological evolution in an endemic livebearing fish. 1Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, USA; 2Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, USA.
Habitat degradation and destruction represent some of the greatest threats to biological diversity. However until recently the evolutionary consequences of such habitat modification has received little attention. Here we examine the evolutionary impacts of estuary fragmentation on the body morphology of a livebearing fish (Gambusia hubbsi) in the Bahamas. Fragmentation of estuaries—reduction in connectivity between marine and inland ecosystems—is commonplace in many Caribbean islands due to road construction during the past half-century. One major consequence of fragmented estuaries is a marked reduction in the density of piscivorous fishes, with severely fragmented estuaries often completely lacking piscivores. This rapid and dramatic change following estuary fragmentation might generate substantially different selection pressures for prey species than were naturally present before fragmentation. We test specific predictions of morphological evolution based on prior theoretical and empirical research. Comparing body morphology among populations inhabiting estuaries of varying degrees of fragmentation (ranging from undisturbed to complete separation from the marine environment for several decades), we find that fish in fragmented estuaries exhibit a relatively larger anterior body/head region and smaller caudal peduncle, matching predictions. These results—consistent among multiple Bahamian islands—suggest rapid and predictable evolutionary changes in response to human-induced habitat modification.
Robert G. Latta1, and April D. Johansen1. The interplay of hybrid vigour, hybrid breakdown and 40 recombination in adaptation to novel environments. 1Dept. of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4J1, Canada.
Humans alter the biotic environment by introducing novel species which may become invasive. Evidence suggests that the novel variation created by hybrid recombination between formerly separate genotypes is an important process adapting invasive species to their novel habitats. In a series of experiments with Avena barbata, we have characterized the fitness consequences of intraspecific hybridization across native and novel environments. In all environments, transgressive segregation generated a few recombinant genotypes with higher fitness than the original strains, but occurred against a background of hybrid breakdown through the disruption of co-adapted gene complexes. In the native environment, hybrid breakdown is pronounced, while the potential gain of fitness through recombinants is limited. By contrast, in novel habitats, hybrid breakdown is minor, and the fitness increase shown by recombinants can be substantial. Moreover, hybrid breakdown is not expressed until later generations following the cross - in early generations, such loss of fitness is counteracted by a gain in fitness through heterosis. Thus, while on average hybrid genotypes are less fit than the parents, heterosis delays this effect, increasing the number of recombinant genotypes that can be 'tested' in early generations following a cross, and thereby increasing the potential for adaptive hybrid genotypes to emerge.
Ane T. Laugen1, Pierre Boudry2, and Bruno Ernande1. Exploitation-induced changes in farmed stocks 41 Pacific oysters in France. 1Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques, Ifremer, Port-en-Bessin, France, 2Laboratoire de Génétique et Pathologie, Ifremer, La Tremblade, France.
In addition to demographic consequences for the target species, commercial exploitation of living resources may induce adaptive changes in life history traits because of size-selective harvesting. Such changes may be expressed as either immediate plastic responses to environmental variation or as microevolution potentially occurring within decades. Using a suitable model system, the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas), we aim to disentangle plastic and evolutionary components of life-history changes in this commercially important species. Following the extinction of the Portuguese oyster (C. angulata) 35 years ago, Pacific oysters originating from Japan were introduced to the France to sustain production. Since then, a gradual decrease in growth rates has been observed. By using time series of environmental parameters to remove noise due to plastic responses in time series of phenotypic traits we may separate the effects of plasticity and evolution on the observed changes in growth and reproduction. Whereas plastic responses can be reversed within a generation, backtracking undesirable evolutionary changes generally requires several generations. Investigating the causes of life-history changes is therefore crucial for the selection of correct management strategies to obtain long-term sustainable yields in this species.
Ane T. Laugen1,2, Anssi Laurila1, Katja Räsänen1,3 and Juha Merilä1,4. Local adaptation to climatic 42 variation in the common frog (Rana temporaria). 1Population and Conservation Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Uppsala University, Sweden, 2Present address: Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques, Ifremer, Port-en-Bessin, France, 3Present address: Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH- Zurich/Department of Aquatic Ecology, EAWAG, Switzerland, 3Present address: Department of Ecology and Systematics, Ecological Genetics Research Unit, University of Helsinki, Finland
Adaptive genetic differentiation along climatic gradients as a response to natural selection is not necessarily expressed at the phenotypic level if environmental effects on population mean phenotypes oppose the genotypic effects. Facing global climatic change, investigating current patterns of such cryptic evolution (countergradient variation) is important in order to predict contemporary evolutionary adaptation induced by changing environmental factors. Using a cross-sectional approach and a combination of field survey and laboratory experiments, we demonstrate complex patterns of local adaptation and phenotypic expression of life-history traits in Rana temporaria along a ca. 1600 km latitudinal gradient across Fennoscandia. Developmental rates in the field displayed large variation even among different ponds within a given latitudinal area. In contrast, development rates assessed in the laboratory increased strongly with latitude, suggesting a genetic capacity for faster development in the northern populations. Experiments further revealed that environmental effects could easily override the genetic effects on developmental rates, providing a possible mechanistic explanation as to why the genetic differentiation was not seen in the samples collected from the wild.
K. A. Lee1,2, K.C. Klasing2, L.B. Martin1,3, L. Fusani4, G. Sorci5, B. Faivre5, and M. Wikelski1 Immune 43 defense strategies differ between invasive New World House Sparrows and their Old World ancestors 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA, 2Department of Animal Science University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA. 3Current address: Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 43210 USA, 4Dipartimento di Fisiologia, Università di Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy, 5 BioGéoSciences, CNRS UMR 5561, Université de Bourgogne, 21000 Dijon, France
When introduced into new regions, invading organisms leave many native pathogens behind but also encounter evolutionarily novel disease threats. In the presence of predominantly novel pathogens that have not co-evolved to avoid inducing a strong host immune response, costly and potentially dangerous defences such as the systemic inflammatory response could become more harmful than protective to the host. We hypothesized that successful invaders should downregulate systemic inflammatory responses relative to their native ancestral populations and instead favor antibody-based defenses. To test this hypothesis we compared behavioral and physiological responses to an inflammatory agent between native and introduced populations of the highly successful avian invader, the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). Immune defense strategies varied predictably between native and introduced populations; unlike native House Sparrows, introduced House Sparrows did not exhibit sickness behaviors and appeared to more rapidly down-regulate the inflammatory response. Our results suggest that studies of immune defenses could increase our understanding of why some introduced populations are so successful and how they might be controlled.
Catherine Lippé, and David B. Carlon. Application of microsatellite data to the design of Marine 44 Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Hawaiian Islands. Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA.
High levels of fishing in Hawaii are contributing to an increasing number of phase shifts from coral to algal dominated benthic communities by the removal of keystone reef herbivores. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have proven effective tools at increasing fish stocks, and should also have indirect effects on increasing levels of herbivory. Although there are a variety of existing managed MPAs in the Northwest and Main Islands, exclusive no-take fishery reserves are few and scattered among the Main islands. Moreover, this small MPA network does not explicitly consider larval dispersal and connectivity among islands. We are addressing the connectivity issue by quantifying genetic structure with microsatellite genetic markers in two important reef herbivores with high dispersal potential: the urchin Tripneustes gratilla, and the parrotfish Scarus rubroviolaceus. Preliminary data from the T. gratilla indicate no detectable genetic structure among the Main Islands of: Kauai, Ohau, Maui, and Hawaii. At larger scales, comparisons between the Main Islands and: (i) Northwest Hawaiian Islands and (ii) Johnston Atoll; also show no significant structure. These data suggest high connectivity among the Main and Northwest Hawaiian Islands. We are synthesizing dispersal information, advection patterns, and ecological MPA theory, to make explicit management recommendations.
Ian MacGregor-Fors1, Lorena Morales-Pérez1, Javier Quesada1,2, and Jorge E. Schondube1. Exotic vs. 45 Native species: effects of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) on the native bird communities of a subtropical area. 1Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Morelia, Apartado Postal 27-3, Morelia, Michoacan, 58190, Mexico. 2Unitat Associada d’Ecologia Evolutiva y de la Conducta (CSIC). Museu de Ciències Naturals, Barcelona, Spain.
The aim of this study was to describe the effect that House Sparrows have on native bird communities in a mountain subtropical system. We determined the effects of the House Sparrow on both the community structure and function. Our study was conducted in 20 periurban localities around the city of Morelia (Western Mexico) during September 2006. Ten of these localities were invaded by House Sparrows in the recent past (HS+), while the other ten are still House Sparrow free (HS-). All of our sites have the same habitat structure and geographical attributes. We analyzed bird community structure using species- rank/abundance plots. Comparison between both HS+ and HS- localities was conducted using rarefaction analyses. We also used Fisher’s α diversity index values to complement rarefaction analyses. Community structure showed clear differences between HS+, and HS- areas. HS- localities exhibited significant higher species richness and lower abundances than HS+ areas. Recorded species turnover
among HS+ and HS- areas was low (βsim= 0.2), however HS- localities recorded 13 exclusive species. Members of the insectivore and granivore trophic guilds responded differently to invasion by House Sparrows. Insectivore richness was higher, and abundance was lower at HS- than at HS+ localities. While granivore species richness was not statistically different between HS- and H+ sites, the abundance of the members of this trophic guild was higher at the HS+ areas. Our results demonstrate that invasions by the House Sparrow change both community structure and function at short temporal scales (3-5 years). House sparrows reduced the number, and abundance of most native species, affecting dramatically insectivorous birds. This could shift evolutionary traits on bird communities at the landscape level.
Mercee Madison-Villar1, Andrew Bohonak1, and Tod Reeder1 Inferring Regions of Concern for a Wide- 46 Ranging Species Endemic to California. 1 San Diego State University Biology Department, San Diego, CA 92182
The Western spadefoot toad (Spea hammondii sensu lato) is an anuran whose range extends from North- Central California to Northern Baja California. Due to extensive habitat loss, this species is listed as a species of conservation concern. For this study, I have used 620 bp of the mtDNA gene region ND1, and have recovered nine haplotypes from 194 individuals. Although many of these haplotypes have no geographic association, two appear restricted to the southern region (San Diego County), while two others appear restricted to the northern region (Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties). Within each region, ӨST values suggest no subdivision between breeding pool complexes. This is supported by non- significant Tajima’s D estimates at both the level of pool complex and region. Despite apparent widespread gene flow within the two regions, it can safely be inferred that extensive development in the study areas will lead to eventual isolation for many populations. Using a GIS modeling approach, whereby historic patterns of gene flow between pool complexes are merged with the contemporary matrix of land use and development, this study will identify areas that are most vulnerable to fragmentation and may warrant future monitoring and conservation effort.
Makame Kitwana Makame1 and Gregory Atambi1. An investigation of ecological function in replanted, 47 degraded and non degraded mangrove forests of Menai bay, Zanzibar. 1Department of Human Ecology, Free University of Brussels
Zanzibar has a total land area of 264,180 ha of which approximately 6% is under mangrove vegetation (Shunula 2002), and gazetted since 1965. The mangrove ecosystems of East Africa have faced and continue to face various threats that jeopardized their existence through heavy destruction for salt production, fuel and urban development. Some mangrove swamps have been exploited to such an extent that without human intervention no natural regeneration would recover their ecological functions. Community enthusiasm for restoration has shown significant decrease in clear felled bare areas in mangrove forests in Tanzania (Mfugale, 2004; Shunula, 2002). Mangrove planting has been considered and accepted as the most effective way of restoring mangrove ecological functions in degraded sites. Replanting has the potential to restore mangrove resources by maintaining overall balance of the coastal ecosystem, providing employment to local population and enhance biodiversity and fishery productivity (Field 1996, Kairo et al, 2001). This study aims at assessing the effectiveness of mangrove restoration in ecosystem function recovery, specifically comparing recovery of degraded to restored and non-degraded mangrove forest in terms of the distribution and abundance of associated mangrove flora in the replanted areas as well as ecophysiological advantages of key mangrove associates.
Jeffrey Markert1,2, Denise Champlin1, Jason Grear1, Anne Kuhn1, Sarah Winnicki1, Mark Bagley2 & Diane 48 Nacci1. The mysid model of adaptive constraints in a rapidly changing environment. 1US-EPA, Atlantic Ecology Division, Population Ecology Branch, 27 Tarzwell Drive, Narragansett, RI 02882, USA. 2US-EPA, Ecological Exposure Research Division, Molecular Ecology Research Branch, 26 MLK Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
Levels of population genetic diversity are expected to play an important role in species persistence during periods of environmental change. Our understanding of how to quantify relevant aspects of this diversity is not well developed. We are conducting a long-term study with the mysid shrimp Americamysis bahia to understand the relationship between genetic diversity and extinction risk. We present the outline of a unique design that replicates experimentally manipulated levels of genetic diversity to measure the power of different DNA fingerprinting techniques and demographic tools to predict extinction risk. Early pilot study results using native cultures with identical effective population sizes from two Gulf Coast populations (Biloxi, MS and Navarre, FL) and Hybrids between these establish a baseline for tolerable stressor levels (reduced salinity) in our main experiment. None of the Navarre populations went extinct after ten weeks, while 30% of the Hybrid and 43% of the Biloxi replicates did. The average census size among surviving replicates was 7.8 individuals for Biloxi, 12.6 for Hybrids, and 5.7 for Navarre, but these were not statistically distinguishable. Seawater control tanks supported ~ 60 individuals. Initial results underscore the potential for population history to counteract the expected beneficial effects of increased genetic diversity.
Erin Marnocha1,2, Ryan Calsbeek,3, and Thomas B. Smith1,2. Anthropogenic habitat alteration affects 49 the form of natural selection in the brown anole, Anolis sagrei. 1Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment, University of California Los Angeles, USA; 2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, USA; 3 Department of Biological Science, Dartmouth College, USA.
The effect of human-induced habitat change on microevolutionary processes is poorly understood. In Anolis lizards, natural selection is thought to underlie the association between limb length and perch diameter because locomotor capacity can be directly related to fitness. Here we measure natural selection on limb length, accounting for variation in body size, in five populations of the brown anole, Anolis sagrei. Two of the populations occupy their natural forest scrub habitat and three occupy habitat that has been severely altered by humans. We did not detect selection on limb length in either of the natural sites, but found significant selection on hindlimb length in all three of the disturbed sites. Furthermore, the form of selection differed among disturbed populations, with directional selection favoring shorter hindlimbs in two populations and disruptive selection favoring both short and long hindlimb lengths in the third population. Results further suggest that the form of selection is determined by the diameter of available perches. Populations experiencing directional selection for shorter limbs occupy habitats with a high frequency of narrow perches whereas the population experiencing disruptive selection on hindlimb length occupies habitat with a high frequency of both narrow and flat perches (mostly man-made). Our results demonstrate that human-induced habitat alteration has a significant impact on natural selection and morphological variation in Anolis lizards.
Martínez Rivera, C. C.1, 2 Change in species composition and phenotypic variation as a function of 50 forest degradation, in Loma Alta, Ecuador. E. K. Astudillo Sánchez2, Constance Dustin Becker2. 1Division of Biological Sciences University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211-7400 [email protected]. 2Fundación Aves Ecuador Casilla Postal 09-05-16008, Guayaquil, Ecuador [email protected].
Historical evidence shows a dramatic reduction in rain due to a reduction in fog-capture rate since the deforestation of the coastal mountains in Ecuador, causing the coastal lowlands to become very patchy and desertified. Here we present data from Reserva Ecológica Comunal Loma Alta, demonstrating the colonization of lowland species and morphotypes into the more disturbed areas of the highlands in the Chongón-Colonche hills. The density and phenotypic variation of Eleutherodactylus achatinus correlates with the degree of deforestation independent of elevation and forest type; moreover, density declines as a function of distance from deforested patches within the cloud forest and is negatively correlated to the density of the endemic and endangered E. nyctophylax, found above 400m. Similarly hummingbird composition in clear-cuts in the cloud forest above 600m, resembles the composition of hummingbirds found at lower elevations in the dry forest. Our findings suggest that deforestation allows for highly adaptable lowland species to colonize and compete with cloud forest species, altering species community and possibly causing local extirpation. For E. achatinus, phenotypic variation increases in the highland and is dependent on forest type rather than elevation, contrary to what has been demonstrated for other anurans.
Erin McClelland1 Kerry Naish1. Genomic analysis of hatch timing in coho salmon. 1University of 51 Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
Increasing emphasis has been placed on understanding the role and significance of adaptive genetic variation underlying phenotypic characters for determining population structure and fitness and applying this information to management and conservation measures. Several ecological and physiological studies point towards the importance of growth-related traits in a suite of other life history characters that may be related to population fitness in salmonids. Specifically, embryonic development has been associated with size of fry which is in turn positively correlated with survival, age at smoltification and age at maturation. We have constructed a genome map of coho salmon in an F2 outbred design using molecular markers mapped in other salmonid species. This map has then been applied to detect molecular markers linked to quantitative trait loci underlying hatch timing, a measure of early development rates. We describe the results of this study, and compare our findings with those performed in other salmonids.
Martim Melo. Phenotypic responses of two oceanic island endemic bird species to recent 52 anthropogenic habitat changes. CNRS - Centre d’Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, France.
Most historically extinct and currently threatened bird species are oceanic island endemics. This pattern has been used to suggest that island species are less ‘adaptive’ than mainland ones. Alternatively, the demise of island species may be a consequence of high-impact human interventions (leaving little room for adaptation) coupled with the impossibility of dispersal to suitable habitats. Here I investigate the phenotypic responses of two endemic passerines of São Tomé Island (the seedeater Serinus rufobrunneus and the white-eye Speirops lugubris) to a moderate human intervention: the conversion of primary rainforest into shade-forest plantations. Gene flow, estimated with microsatellite data, was not restricted between habitats. Whereas no morphological changes were detected in the seedeater, white- eyes occurring on plantations were significantly smaller (bill, wing, tarsus, mass) than those on primary forests. This strong response is likely to reflect the higher diet specialization of white-eyes. As the traits analysed are heritable and important to fitness in birds, changes are likely to be driven by selection. In the seedeaters, mate recognition traits (song and colour) diverged between habitats, likely reflecting their fitness importance (traits not analysed in white-eyes). Results indicate that island endemics may retain the capacity to adapt to moderate levels of change.
Kristin L. Mercer1 and Hugo Perales Rivera2. Local adaptation of maize landraces to an environmental 53 gradient. 1Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, USA; 2Department of Agroecology, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Mexico.
Farmers are key actors in the conservation of crop genetic diversity because it is under their management that landraces, or traditional varieties, continue to evolve. Farmers mediate the evolution of landraces by mixing seed lots and imposing selection on the populations through management. However, flow of pollen between landrace parcels and selection by the environment for adaptive characteristics also play a role. Mexico, the center of origin of maize, is an optimal location to study human-mediated and natural evolution of crop populations because maize landraces are grown under a large range of conditions. Sampling of maize landraces throughout Chiapas has revealed landrace distributions that correspond to altitudinal and environmental gradients. We investigated how natural selection has been acting on maize populations by planting a set of landrace populations from high, medium, and low elevations into two common gardens along an altitudinal and environmental gradient. We saw the greatest negative effects on fecundity and flowering when landraces from high altitudes were translocated to warmer climes. Therefore, environmental conditions, in addition to farmer management, have selected upon landrace populations to produce their present distribution. In the face of global climate change, Mexico’s high elevation landraces should be a conservation priority.
Metcalf JL1, Pritchard VL2, Cowley DE3, Silverstri SM4, Woods JS4, Mitton JB1, Martin AP1. Human 54 movement of fish obscures evolutionary history: Colorado’s native trout and their non-native genes. 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309. 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089. 3Department of Wildlife and Fishery Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003. 4Pisces Molecular, 2200 Central Ave, Boulder, CO, 80301
Over the last century, humans have greatly altered the ranges of species. As some species expanded their range, others hurtled towards extinction. For those species in decline, biologists endeavor to recover information for conservation of the remaining populations with the goal of restoring species distributions to their historic range. However, in some cases, the extensive human manipulation of a species range obscures the true evolutionary signal that would tell us which populations belong where. Using analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear genes, we discovered evidence of evolutionary history that was nearly entirely overwritten by more recent propagation and dispersion of fish. Our results demonstrate the utility of molecular data for identifying native populations and the evolutionary context of populations in time and space. This knowledge provides the basis for more effective conservation management.
Mark P. Miller1 and E. Richard Vincent2. Rapid natural selection for resistance to an introduced 55 parasite of rainbow trout: preserving genetic diversity matters in changing environments. 1Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan Utah 84322 USA; 2Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, 1400 South 19th Avenue, Bozeman, Montana 59718-5496, USA
Human activities have directly and indirectly facilitated the spread of both nonnative species and infectious diseases. The biological ramifications of this process are well established: introduced species or emergent diseases can pose serious threats to existing biodiversity once established in new geographical regions or hosts. Historically, most research has focused on understanding the primary factors that facilitate nonnative invasions or pathogen host switches. In contrast, syntheses of the evolutionary responses of established species to selective pressures imposed by introduced species or emergent disease are only recently being developed, with few cases documenting the evolutionary responses of organisms to the combined challenges posed by an introduced disease. In this study, we illustrate that natural selection on standing genetic variation has reduced susceptibility of a wild rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) population to the introduced myxosporidian parasite and causative agent of whirling disease (Myxobolus cerebralis) following parasite establishment 13 years ago. Our findings emphasize the importance of a central tenet of conservation biology, that of preservation of both biodiversity and genetic variation within species, to ensure that important wildlife resources are adequately armed to face the challenge of changing environments.
Lynne M. Mullen1, Sacha Vignieri1, Linda Botteger1, Cynthia Steiner1, Jeff Gore2, and Hopi E. Hoekstra1. 56 Analysis of phenotypic and genetic variation in the endangered beach mouse. 1University of California-San Diego, USA; 2Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, USA.
Neutral markers can be used to delineate taxonomic units, but the inclusion of markers linked to adaptive traits can better identify functionally distinct groups on independent evolutionary trajectories. One species of conservation concern is the oldfield mouse (Peromyscus polionotus) that inhabits the light-colored sand dunes of Alabama and Florida’s Gulf Coast and have similarly light-colored dorsal colors. Beach mouse numbers have dramatically declined due to habitat loss and fragmentation caused by commercial and residential development and frequent hurricanes. Four of the five beach mouse subspecies are listed as endangered, but recently their taxonomic status has been challenged. Here, we combine analyses of neutral genetic variation (20 microsatellite markers and 1 kb of mtDNA), adaptive genetic variation (SNPs in four pigmentation genes) and adaptive phenotypic variation (coat color patterning) to assess the structure of beach mouse populations. Despite the close geographic proximity of the subspecies, we detected high levels of genetic and phenotypic divergence among subspecies that may also warrant subspecific status. In addition, we identified a highly distinct population that may be a unique subspecies. These results highlight the importance of using a combined approach examining both neutral and adaptive alleles and phenotypes in informing conservation decisions.
Denis Ndeloh 1, and Louis Nkembi 2. Combining scientific and fist hand local knowledge for raising 57 awareness on gorilla conservation in Cameroon; Great Apes Conservation Education in Lebialem Highlands. 1Human Ecology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium. 2 The Environment and Rural Development Foundation, Cameroon.
It is widely accepted that gorillas like other Great Apes have an important role in African traditional mythologies and forest region believes. Many such local societies believe strongly that animals have souls and that a person’s soul can be connected to an animal counterpart. We carried out a survey in four villages to find out key human-gorilla relationships to be used in a conservation education campaign. 76% of the sampled population (sample size 350) believed that gorillas are totems (supernatural animals used as spiritual tools) of old men and women. 63% of the sample also accepted that totems and their habitats should be protected. We then formulated a conservation message thus: “Protect gorillas, save our totems”. This message gave the community a sense of ownership of the education campaign. They saw it as a thing of their own and since then local participation in conservation activities has increased. This work shows that capturing indigenous knowledge on gorillas and their uses can provide baseline information for scientific studies and also provides common grounds for community involvement in biodiversity conservation. Conservation efforts will continue to be challenged if we do not take into considerations the restoration of the harmonic interface of humanity and nature.
A. Nolte1, K. Stemshorn1, J. Freyhof2, & D. Tautz1. The emergence of a hybrid fish in perturbed 58 habitats. 1Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Germany. 2Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany.
The River Rhine has gone through a history of massive human impacts including pollution, channelization and an increase in connectivity with other waterways. Here we present evidence, that these perturbations apparently favour the emergence and spread of a hybrid lineage of sculpins (Cottus). A rapid invasion of perturbed river habitats by sculpins was observed during the last 20 years. The appearance of these fish was unexpected given that they are typically confined to small cold streams within the Rhine drainage. Phylogeographic analysis based on mitochondrial haplotypes and diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms indicates that the invasive sculpins are hybrids between two old lineages from the River Scheldt drainage and the River Rhine drainage. Secondary contact between these was probably enhanced by the recent manmade connections between river systems. Most importantly, however, the invasive population possesses a unique ecological potential that does not occur in either of the source populations from the Rhine or the Scheldt, which allows the colonisation of habitats that have previously been free of sculpins. Hybrid sculpins were found to be unsuccessful in sympatry with their ancestral forms. Thus, the evolutionary fate of Cottus hybrids appears to be coupled with ecological opportunity, which in this case seems to be created by man.
John Novembre1, and Matthew Stephens1. Properties of principal components analysis when applied 59 to isolation-by-distance populations. 1Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, USA.
Obtaining an efficient summary of population genetic structure is crucial for gaining a full understanding of natural populations and assessing how they have been or might be affected by human-altered environments. One commonly applied technique for summarizing population genetic variation is principal components analysis (PCA). This method is especially of interest as new developments suggest a method for testing the presence of population structure using PCA (Patterson et al, 2006). Here we present results that describe how PCA behaves when applied to isolation-by-distance populations (i.e. populations with geographically restricted mating). We show how in these settings the principal components have a striking regularity that has previously gone unrecognized. We also explore the effects of uneven sampling, the presence of discrete outlier groups, and non-isotropic migration on the outcome of PCA. Our results provide insight into how in practice PCA results should be interpreted.
Kathryn E. Perez1,2 and Cliff Cunningham2. Trampsnails: genetic evidence for natural colonization 60 and human-mediated introductions of the land snail Praticolella. 1SPIRE Postdoctoral Fellowship program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2Department of Biology, Duke University, Box 90338, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
Knowledge of the identity and natural geographic distribution of a species before human-mediated introduction is fundamental to the recognition of ecological, biogeographical, and evolutionary relationships. Land snails present ideal models of biogeographic patterns due to their low vagility and they are at high risk to be negatively impacted by invasions due to their dependence on specific habitats and small average distribution. However, it is less appreciated that land snails make excellent vagrants with resistant eggs and long dormant stages. This project utilizes DNA sequences, morphometrics, and environmental niche modeling to address a group of invasive land snails. Previously it was believed that there was a single invasive species in this group, Praticolella griseola. This work found that there are actually three morphologically similar species of Praticolella invasive in the U.S., two of which were previously unknown. In addition, there is a rare endemic native species that had been previously conflated with this invasive. This research provides the basic scientific information necessary for taxonomy, conservation, and management of this invasive mollusk and native congeners. Species decline through habitat modification and concomitant introduction of foreign species is a serious and threat to land snails, particularly those that are unrecognized through inadequate taxonomy.
Erik Postma1,2, Jan Visser1, and Arie J. van Noordwijk1. Strong artificial selection in the wild results in 61 predicted small evolutionary change. 1Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), PO box 40, 6666 ZG Heteren, The Netherlands; 2School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
Insight into the capacity of natural populations to cope with either natural or man-induced environmental change requires knowledge of the rate of phenotypic evolution. The prediction of the evolutionary trajectory of natural populations does however remain elusive. Furthermore, natural selection on heritable traits does not always result in phenotypic change. So, is our understanding of the evolutionary process insufficient to predict the evolutionary dynamics of complex traits measured in natural, heterogeneous environments? To answer this question, we performed, over an eight-year period, a two-way selection experiment on clutch size in a sub-divided island population of great tits (Parus major). Despite strong artificial selection, there was no evidence for evolutionary change at the phenotypic level. However, separating clutch size into its environmental and genetic components revealed that on average genetic changes did not deviate from those predicted. Nevertheless, variation in the observed genetic change among years that remained unexplained was substantial. Although we have thus experimentally shown that estimates of genetic variation and selection can provide quantitative predictions of evolutionary change, also in the wild, our results emphasize also that demonstrating evolution in wild populations is far from trivial, and that the interpretation of phenotypic trends requires great care.
V. L. Pritchard1, K. Jones2, and D. E. Cowley1. Human impacts on the population genetic structure of 62 cutthroat trout. 1Department of Fishery and Wildlife Sciences, New Mexico State University, USA; 2Genetic Identification Services, Chatsworth, California, USA.
The inland cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii ) of western North America have been heavily impacted by human activity over the past 150 years. Over-fishing, habitat alteration and the introduction of non- native trout have caused many subspecies to decline to a small fraction of their historic range. We used microsatellites to investigate the contemporary population genetic structure of Rio Grande cutthroat trout (O. c. virginalis), a taxon native to three river drainages in Colorado and New Mexico. Several populations were found to contain substantial amounts of genetic material from non-native taxa. We observed a high level of differentiation between the remaining populations (global Fst >0.4), which may be attributed in part to recent severe fragmentation and the continuing loss of populations not protected by natural barriers. Despite large-scale transplants of O. c. virginalis between different rivers, a partial signature of long-term evolutionary independence between drainages persists. At least two populations appear to have originated entirely as a result of stocking.
Catherine Purcell1 and Suzanne Edmands1. Population connectivity in the recreationally and 63 commercially targeted species, striped marlin.1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, USA.
This study examines population genetic structure in a highly migratory and economically important fish, striped marlin (Tetrapturus audax). Due to previous evidence for population subdivision, this species can be used to address questions such as: (1) Will different loci show the same genetic pattern previously found? (2) Is the genetic structure temporally stable? (3) What is the underlying mechanism creating this population divergence? We are measuring genetic variation using mitochondrial (control region sequencing) and nuclear (microsatellite) markers. Repetitive sampling is ongoing to collect adult tissue from 7 representative locations throughout the Pacific. Larval samples will be collected in known spawning locations to test spawning-site fidelity as the mechanism maintaining the population subdivision. Inclusion of genetic data is important in assessing stocks and developing effective management strategies for this and other economically important species. While tagging data describes details of migration patterns for pelagic species such as striped marlin, molecular studies reveals whether migrants are making genetic contributions. This distinction is important as the picture differs for striped marlin stocks between these two data types. Understanding the intricacies of genetic structure and migration in this species, and using this information to make careful management decisions may help preserve this international resource.
Fazli Rabbi1and Siegfried Bauer 2. Conservation of Biodiversity and Habitat Destruction: Do 64 economic Incentives Based Policies work? Conservation of Ibex (Capra sibirica hemalayanus) and Markhor in in Arkari valley Chitral, Pakistan. 1. Phd student, project and regional planning, senckenberg str.3 D-35390 Giessen Germany. 2. Professor, project and regional planning, senckenberg str.3 D-35390 Giessen Germany
The Himalayan Ibex (Capra sibirica hemalayanus) and Markhor are found in northern Pakistan with a population of about 600 ibex in the valley, Markhor is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Due to loss of through deforestation, free grazing and illegal hunting, pastoral system in the area caused a marked decline in the population of ibex and Markor beside others in the area. The government of Pakistan, through an initiative of the Mountain Conservation Project (MACP 1999-2006) launched a program for the conservation of the endangered species. The central component of the program was the creation of awareness among local people and their participation in the conservation of this species. Incentives in the farm of 80% share trophy hunting, communities actively engaged in conservation efforts. The Since 1999, in seven hunting seasons, communities in the conservancies and 75% in NWFP have earned over US$ 760,000 from Markhor. Markhor populations have increased in select valleys in both NWFP and Northern Areas between 2000 and 2006 Northern Pakistan. These incentive-based policies have changed the local people behavior from exploiters to managers of natural resources for sustainable use. Under the project, the landscape scale approach embodied in the conservancies has provided these people the means to cooperate in the management of natural resources at a level not achieved previously. As a result, there is an increased sense of ownership of these resources. Their interest in benefiting from these resources has led the communities to stop poaching, introduce controls over fuel wood harvests, and restrict grazing rights to pastures. However, the people are concerned about future of the existing decade-long community conservation efforts, after MACP. Efforts are need to strengthen property rights over these resources, capacity building, and new strategies for continuation of the program, other wise there will be severe implications for local wild life and habitat conservation.
Andréa Raposo1, Ana Y. Ciampi2, Lúcia H. Wadt3, Elizabeth A. Veasey1. Genetic structure and genetic 65 diversity of natural populations of crabwood (Carapa guianensis Aulb.). 1Genetics Department, Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, University of São Paulo, Brazil; 2Plant Genetics Laboratory, CENARGEN, Brazil; 3Embrapa Acre, Brazil.
The aim of this study was to assess with microsatellite markers the genetic structure and diversity in two populations of crabwood (Carapa guianensis). These are known locally as andiroba, and stem from the municipalities of Porto Acre and Rio Branco, an area of humid tropical forest in the State of Acre, Brazil. Seven microsatellite loci were analyzed in 39 individuals from the Porto Acre and 38 from the Rio Branco population. A total of 56 alleles were found in the two populations, with a mean of 6.0 alleles per locus for ˆ each population. Gene diversity ( H e ) represented 70% of the maximum possible diversity. Neither of the populations showed evidence of inbreeding. The genetic structure revealed that most of the variation was found within populations (90.5%). The apparent outcrossing rate was high for both populations ˆ (ta = and 11.188.0 for Rio Branco and Porto Acre, respectively), showing a cross-pollination mating
system. The apparent gene flow (Nm = 2.37) is in accordance with the estimated RST value ( RST = 0.095), indicating an intermediate gene diversity. Evidence of genetic drift was not detected in these populations. Although the Porto Acre population is subject to seed collection, results show that this activity has of date not interfered in its genetic diversity.
Katja Räsänen1,2, Anssi Laurila1, Fredrik Söderman1, Micael Persson1 and Juha Merilä1,3 The role of 66 maternal effects in responses to human induced environmental change: acidification and amphibians. 1Department of Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden, 2Present address: ETH-Zurich, Institute of Integrative Biology/Eawag, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Switzerland, 3Present address: Ecological genetics research unit, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
Maternal effects, the effects of maternal phenotype on offspring phenotype independently of (or interactively with) offspring genotype, are common in natural populations. We here emphasize that maternal effects may be of particular interest for understanding evolutionary responses to human induced environmental change. First, human-induced changes often cause direct maternal effects either by influencing mothers ability to invest adaptively in offspring or by direct transmission of contaminants (e.g. chemical pollution) from mother to offspring. Second, maternal effects can strongly influence evolutionary dynamics: they can slow down, speed up as well as change the direction of evolutionary responses. We exemplify their role in adaptation to human-induced change by presenting evidence from Swedish moor frog (Rana arvalis) populations impacted to different extents by acidification. Our research suggests that in this species maternal effects have contributed to rapid adaptation (within the last 100 years, ca. 40 generations). In particular, acid stress tolerance of embryos (survival) is influenced by variation in egg capsules and that of larvae (development rate) by variation in egg size. Moreover, the data suggests that acidification has resulted in major life-history shifts in maternal investment (from many small eggs in neutral environments to few large eggs in acid environments).
Thomas E. Reed 1,2, Sarah Wanless 2, Michael P. Harris 2, Morten Frederiksen 2, Loeske E.B. Kruuk 1 and 67 Emma J.A. Cunningham 1 Responding to environmental change: can a need for breeding synchrony in common guillemots (Uria aalge) limit individual plastic responses? 1. Institute of Evolutionary Biology, King’s Buildings, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK. 2. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Hill of Brathens, Banchory, Aberdeenshire, AB31 4BW, UK
The impact of environmental change on populations depends on the ability of individuals to plastically adjust key life-history events. Individual-level adjustment of breeding time, an important fitness-related trait, allows populations to track rapidly changing conditions. There is therefore considerable interest in establishing the degree of plasticity in breeding time and how selection acts on plasticity in natural populations. Recent studies in birds and mammals have found that females vary significantly in breeding time-environment relationships, with selection often favoring individuals exhibiting stronger plastic responses. In contrast, here we show that although breeding time in the common guillemot is highly plastic at the population level in response to a large-scale environmental cue (the North Atlantic Oscillation), there is very little between-individual variation, demonstrating that most individuals respond similarly. This species differs from those previously studied in being a colonial breeder, where reproductive synchrony has a substantial impact on fitness; we show this generates strong stabilizing selection against individuals deviating from the average population-level response to NAO, both limiting individuals in their response and potential for directional selection to act. This finding highlights the importance of considering the relative costs and benefits of highly plastic responses in assessing the likely responses of populations to environmental change.
David C. Richards1 and Tristan Arrington1. Evolutionary consequences of a rapidly evolving invasive 68 species to the viability of a native threatened species. 1EcoAnalysts Inc., Center for Aquatic Studies, Bozeman, Montana, USA.
Invasive species coupled with habitat deterioration can have both direct and indirect effects on the evolution and possibly extinction of native species. In the regulated and disturbed mid-Snake River ecosystem, the prolific, invasive, New Zealand mudsnail (NZMS) is considered to be the major risk to the viability of the remaining fragmented, genetically-restricted, metapopulation of the threatened Bliss Rapids snail (BRS), a Pliocene relict. Relative to NZMS, BRS is a slow disperser, has a more restrictive niche, and is usually out numbered more than 10 to 1. Where both species co-occur, their diets often overlap. Reproductively, NZMS appears to be quickly evolving from strictly parthenogenic to sexual, which may be in response to intraspecific competition and native parasites. Thus, NZMS can negatively affect BRS viability via interference and exploitative competition, changes in food resources, and increased parasitism. Adaptation and evolution of BRS may be limited within this changing environment. Because of the strength of the Endangered Species Act, mitigation funds, which otherwise would not be allotted to such a relatively unknown species, are available to conduct detailed viability analyses and risk assessments on BRS that assist management decisions, including the development of NZMS biocontrol methods.
Christian Roberge1, Éric Normandeau1, Sigurd Einum2, Helga Guderley1 & Louis Bernatchez1. A follow up 69 on the evidence of rapid evolutionary changes of gene expression profiles in farmed Atlantic salmon. 1Département de biologie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada and 2Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway.
Farmed salmon strains have been selected in man-made environments (fish hatcheries and sea cages) since the 1970’ to improve growth rates as well as other traits of commercial interest, and the 2 million farmed salmon escaping annually may enhance the risk of extinction of wild populations through genetic and ecological interactions. Recently, we used cDNA microarrays to gather evidence of genetic differences in gene transcription profiles between farmed and wild Atlantic salmon from Norway and Canada. Several candidate genes which transcription levels showed genetic differences between farmed and wild salmon were identified. In a follow up study, we present here quantitative PCR confirmation of some of these results. We also studied the transcriptomics of outbreeding depression and transgressive segregation in crosses of farmed hybrids to wild salmon, which provided new information on the potential mechanisms of introgression of farmed characters in wild populations. Overall, our results could lead to a better understanding of the molecular basis of recent evolution and of introgression of transcription level differences from farmed to wild salmon, clarifying how gene flow from farmed escapees may affect the genetic integrity of wild populations.
Vinodkumar Saranathan1 and Michael A. Russello2. Elucidating the mechanisms of invasion success: 70 novel molecular tools for the invasive Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus). 1Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT USA. 2Unit of Biology & Physical Geography, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, BC CAN
Severe ecological and economic impacts caused by some invasive species make it imperative to understand the attributes that permit them to spread. A notorious crop pest across its native range in southern South America, the Monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) has established self-sustaining breeding populations worldwide, including growing populations throughout the U.S. A panel of 20 microsatellite loci and a set of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (CR) primers were specifically optimized for M. monachus to provide historical information regarding the origin of naturalized populations in the U.S. in support of a larger comparative study of the behavioral, cultural and genetic mechanisms of invasion success. Thirteen mtDNA CR haplotypes were identified from 77 museums specimens collected across the native range of M. monachus, with little correspondence to subspecies designations or geographic localities as revealed by a Bayesian haplotype tree. Two haplotypes were recovered from naturalized populations in Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida, one of which, sampled from Argentina, was identical to that found in over 90% of individuals sampled in the U.S. Identification of a likely South American source population will permit studies of behavioral adaptations and signatures of adaptive genetic divergence that may be associated with M. monachus invasion success.
Shane Sarver 1,2, Carolyn Ferrell 1,2, Raeann Mettler 1, Garth Spellman 1,2, and Cynthia Anderson 1,2. 71 Conservation genetics of the American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus): declining population size in an impacted population in the Black Hills of South Dakota. 1Center for the Conservation of Biological Resources, Black Hills State University, USA; 2Western South Dakota Core DNA Lab, Biology Department, Black Hills State University, USA
The American Dipper is a non-migratory songbird that lives year-round near fast moving, mountain streams feeding on benthic invertebrates. Dippers are considered water quality indicator species because they require good water quality to maintain healthy populations. American Dippers were once known to occur in streams throughout the Black Hills, but now dippers number less than 50 individuals and reside in a single stream. The decline of the American Dipper in the Black Hills of South Dakota is recent (in the last decade) and is thought to be due to local stream degradation. Here were present the results of a genetic assessment of the Black Hills population of C. mexicanus. Eighty-nine microsatellite primer pairs developed in other passiforms were tested in dippers. Thirteen of these amplified well and were polymorphic. Samples (either blood or feathers) were collected from dippers in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming and four watersheds in Idaho and Montana. Analyses were conducted to determine if there was any evidence for loss of genetic variation as a result of the reduction in population size in the Black Hills population. Population differentiation and structure were assessed for all sampled populations included in the study.
Martin A. Schlaepfer1 Practical guidelines for incorporating evolutionary concepts into conservation 72 biology. 1 Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, USA.
A key challenge for the long-term conservation of biodiversity will be to ensure that species retain the evolutionary potential to cope with continuously changing and novel environmental conditions. There is a rapidly growing body of theoretical and conceptual work addressing these issues but evolutionary concepts and processes are rarely integrated into conservation science and the work of large conservation organizations. My thesis is that evolutionary process remain largely absent from conservation practices because of i) a fundamentally flawed approach in how conservation goals are determined, and ii) a lack of practical guidance as to how evolutionary processes can be implemented into management plans. I argue that conservation goals based on historical benchmarks (which aim to restore environments to their formerly “pristine” state) are potentially counter-productive and should be jettisoned in favor of future- based visions of evolving populations and ecosystems. Finally, I present general guidelines for how one might integrate evolutionary processes when dealing with three important threats to biodiversity: habitat fragmentation, invasive species, and global climate change. The use of evolutionarily enlightened management represents a necessary approach to ensure the co-existence and long-term survival of a majority of species in a rapidly changing world.
Amy K. Schwartz1 and Andrew P. Hendry1. Of Guppies and Clear-Cuts: Isolating the Role of Light in 73 Contemporary Evolution. 1 Redpath Museum and Department of Biology, McGill University, Canada.
Human disturbance induces rapid environmental change, thereby shifting a locally adapted population off its optimum. Initially, phenotypic plasticity may allow a population to persist, however such responses may ultimately alter the strength and direction of selection. Multiple factors often interact to contribute to overall selection on a phenotype, making it difficult to determine which factors, when altered, will have the largest effect on a population. For example, Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) demonstrate rapid evolution in response to differences in predation pressure. Resource availability further co-varies with predation intensity and has also been shown to influence the same traits. We compared phenotypes of a population of guppies before, and directly following, a drastic harvesting of the surrounding forest. This disturbance provides a rare opportunity to (i) isolate the role of light (i.e. productivity) from other factors in patterns of phenotypic variation, and (ii) compare these patterns to the natural variation we observe with respect to differences in canopy cover in similar, but undisturbed habitats. We found dramatic differences in female body size and some aspects of male colour following the clear-cut, mirroring differences between populations that naturally vary in light levels. Because these traits influence natural and sexual selection in guppies, this initial response may have long-term evolutionary consequences. This work also highlights the importance of focusing on multiple selective agents to understand patterns of diversity within and among populations.
Rachel S. Schwartz1 and Bernie May1 Changes in genetic diversity and population structure of 74 Sacramento perch due to anthropogenic translocations to new environments 1Dept. of Animal Science, University of California - Davis
Sacramento perch (Archoplites interruptus) were once a dominant fish in California’s Central Valley and Bay-Delta Region; however, this species remains in only a few locations in California and Nevada, all of which are outside its native range, due to human translocations of populations. Extant populations were founded between 1850 and 1965, with each population isolated from others since its founding. We use 12 microsatellite DNA loci and the mitochondrial control region to infer founder effects and genetic differentiation in extant populations of Sacramento perch. Severe population bottlenecks due to founder effects have the potential to decrease the ability of this species to adapt to conditions at planned restoration sites or during climate change. Genetic differentiation among populations may cause outbreeding depression at restoration sites if individuals from more than one population are introduced to maximize genetic diversity. Additionally, we compare diversity and population structure in historical and extant populations using 350 bases of the mitochondrial control region.
Dietmar Schwarz1 and Bruce A. McPheron1. Invasive plant promotes hybridization and speciation in 75 native host specialist insects. 1The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Entomology, 501 ASI Building, University Park, PA 16802, email: [email protected].
While the demographic consequences of exotic plant invasions are well studied, much less is known about the invaders’ evolutionary effects on the invaded communities. We discovered that introduced honeysuckle – an invasive weed – has been adopted as a new host by native tephritid fruit flies belonging to a genus of host specialists. Population genetic data show that the flies on honeysuckle formed by hybridization between two native Rhagoletis species, but that the newly formed Lonicera fly is now a self- sustaining population and not a hybrid zone between the parental taxa. Because Rhagoletis species mate on their respective host plants, host choice mediates both ecological and reproductive isolation. In behavioral experiments both parent taxa accept honeysuckle for oviposition while they discriminate against each other’s host. This suggests that honeysuckle served as a catalyst for the local breakdown of reproductive isolation between the native parents. The Lonicera fly, however, prefers introduced honeysuckle over the native hosts of its parents, a finding that is consistent with ecologically driven hybrid speciation of the Lonicera fly. This system represents an unexpected pathway for the evolution of new specialists for introduced plants that will integrate invaders into native plant/herbivore communities.
Gernot Segelbacher1, Implications of genetic diversity for the conservation in endangered bird 76 species Department of Wildlife Ecology and Management, University of Freiburg, Germany
Population fragmentation and isolation may have detrimental effects both on the fitness and viability of extant populations, and also on the evolutionary potential of the species. Genetic structure is predicted to affect population persistence and long-term survival where small and isolated populations face a higher risk of extinction. I use grouse as a model system to investigate how lowered genetic variability in avian populations is affected by both population size and spatial isolation and I am estimating the potential impact of both of these factors. I compare populations of black grouse and capercaillie from within a continuous distribution (e.g. boreal landscape) with contiguous populations (e.g. Alps) and recently isolated populations to infer the effect of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity. I evaluate the suitability of heterozygosity and allelic richness as markers to detect population decline and demonstrate how the results of non-invasive genetic studies can be used to identify conservation priorities at multiple spatial scales.
Ravinder Sehgal1, 2, Anthony Chasar1, 2, Wolfgang Buermann2, Camille Bonneaud2, Sassan Saatchi2,3, 77 Gediminas Valkiūnas2,4, and Thomas B. Smith2. Effects of deforestation on the prevalence of blood- borne pathogens in African rainforest birds. 1Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, USA, 2Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA, USA, 3JPL/NASA, USA, 4Vilnius University, Lithuania
The effects of deforestation on health are diverse and are becoming increasingly apparent with the highly publicized recent outbreaks of several diseases spread to humans by animals. Here, we conduct a study of the effects of deforestation on the spread of infectious diseases in African rainforest birds. Over the past 16 years, we have collected more than 8,000 individual blood samples from over 200 rainforest bird species in a variety of habitats across Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, and Uganda. Significantly, the samples were collected from sites both before and after habitat degradation, permitting a unique examination of the direct effects of human-induced habitat alterations. Using complementary techniques of blood smear analysis and molecular biology, samples are assayed for the pathogens that cause malaria, trypanosomiasis, and filiariasis. We have obtained results regarding the host-specificity, prevalence and lineage diversity of these diseases in rainforest birds, and also village chickens. For example, we find many lineages of Plasmodium, and Leucocytozoon in a single host species, the Olive sunbird (Nectarinia obscura/olivacea) that are widespread throughout Africa, and others that are more localized. In chickens, we have found relatively high sequence divergence in Leucocytozoon schoutedeni, suggesting cryptic speciation. In addition, we use satellite imagery data to predict how changes in forest composition may affect the spread of diseases in the future.
Jason P. Sexton1. The role of selection, gene flow, and range edges in determining ecological 78 responses to climate warming in the cut-leaved monkeyflower (Mimulus laciniatus). 1Plant Sciences Department, University of California, Davis, USA.
Populations occupying opposing climates of a species range have the potential to evolve climatically adapted, phenotypic extremes. If connectivity among populations exists, these climate-edge populations may be important during rapid environmental shifts (e.g. human-caused global warming) by contributing genes that enhance climate tolerance. Nevertheless, such gene flow may be constrained by spatial or temporal isolation. This may be particularly true in plants from mountain systems with steep gradients, where migration from lower, warmer-adapted populations is limited by steep landscapes (seed barriers) and/or non-overlapping temporal windows among elevations (pollen barriers). Thus, differential rates of gene flow among different climatic selection regimes may strongly influence adaptive climate responses. Preliminary survival and fitness data on Mimulus laciniatus, an annual plant endemic to the Sierra Nevada with a limited, well-defined climate range, show evidence for adaptive climate structuring among three populations grown at middle and low elevations. The degree to which this structuring extends to range edges is being explored. Microsatellite markers are being used to estimate gene flow among and across elevational strata, making this a promising system to estimate the interaction and contributions of gene flow and quantitative trait variation in enabling species to potentially tolerate, and adapt to, global warming.
Vanda S. Silva1, Eduardo L. M. Catharino2, Giancarlo C.X. Oliveira1, Elizabeth A. Veasey1. Floristical and 79 phytosociological survey in the edge of Núcleo Cabuçu, Cantareira State Park, São Paulo, Brazil. 1Genetics Department, Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, University of São Paulo, Brazil; 2Botanical Institute, São Paulo, Brazil.
The purpose of this study was to describe the floristical and structural composition of an area located on the edge of Núcleo Cabuçu in the State Park of Cantareira, municipality of Guarulhos, São Paulo, Brazil. Three areas with distinct physiognomy, successional stages and human impact, called capoeira (secondary vegetation), mata (woody vegetation) and pinus (Pinus elliottii), were sampled in five parallel transections, 20m distant from each other. In these transections, 4m2-plots were established every 10m, totaling 38 samples. The location and identification of arboreal, herbaceous, gap opportunistic, native and exotic plants with DBH (diameter at breast height) lower than 10cm were conducted, as well as the richness and diversity of these areas. A total of 3405 specimens distributed among 123 species were sampled, belonging to 95 genera and 41 botanical families. High divergence in the floristical composition concerning the richness and diversity in the different typologies were also observed. High species diversity was found in the area, confirmed by the “Shannon” index (3.18 nits/ind). The diversity in the mata area (3.45 nits/ind) was high when compared to other areas of tropical forests. The areas of pinus and capoeira presented similar values. The capoeira (2.02 nits/ind), suffering greater human impact, presented the lower diversity index.
Sofia Solorzano1, Allan J. Baker2 and Ken Oyama3. Inferring past and recent evolutionary processes 80 of Quetzals in a fragmented landscape: 1UBIPRO-FES Iztacala, UNAM, México; 2CBCB, Royal Ontario Museum, Canada; 3CIEco, UNAM, Mexico.
Quetzals (Pharomachrus mocinno) distribute from Mexico to Panama. Presently, this bird displays a patchy distribution apparently caused by recent cloud forests destruction. An alternative idea is to suppose a historical isolation given by geologic processes occurred in the past. We sequenced mtDNA and tested 60 RAPDs primers for 26 individuals from Mexico to Panama. The mtDNA (2056 bp) found two monophyletic clades strongly differentiated, named as northern (Mexico-Guatemala-El Salvador and Nicaragua) and southern (Panama) populations. RAPDs (286 fragments) strongly supported this genetic differentiation and clearly defined two genetic groups within northern populations. A Bayesian analysis with mtDNA did not find recent and past gene flow (Nm) between northern and southern populations. RAPDS found recent Nm within northern populations but did not between northern and southern populations. These results suggest that both historical and recent geographical isolation occurred among quetzal populations. We inferred that historical isolation promoted a structuring of genetic diversity explained by mutational processes. In contrast, recent genetic isolation combined with current low population sizes suggest that genetic drift and an increase of inbreeding will bring in short term a severe reduction of genetic diversity that could put on extinct risk to most quetzal populations.
Pacifica Sommers1, Louise Gava2, Caitlin Kight3, and John Swaddle3. Impervious land cover predicts 81 anthropogenic disturbance and variation in fitness of nesting house wrens (Troglodytes aedon). 1Department of Biology, Scripps College, USA; 2Department of Biology, St. Lawrence University, USA; 3Department of Biology, College of William and Mary, USA.
Urbanization can fundamentally change the ecology of an area and impact breeding bird populations. Therefore, predicting how urbanization will lead to changes in anthropogenic disturbance regimes is an important component of understanding how human-altered environments will impact natural bird populations. We investigated whether impervious surface cover predicts patterns of anthropogenic disturbance and variation in house wren (Troglodytes aedon) fitness at sites around Williamsburg, VA. We collected temporal and spatial disturbance data at 57 bird nest boxes and generated multivariate measures of these disturbance regimes using PCA. With GIS, we digitized impervious surface cover within 100 meters (i.e. the breeding territory) of each box. Impervious surface area strongly predicted overall temporal disturbance. Several types of impervious surface predicted specific types of disturbance (e.g. the presence of roads predicted the amount of vehicular traffic). We also recorded three fitness- related metrics: brood condition, brood growth rate, and overall productivity. These parameters were related to types of impervious surface cover in a reasonably intuitive manner: For example, bicycle and pedestrian disturbance negatively correlated with brood condition. Our study clearly indicates that relatively straightforward measures of impervious surface cover can predict impacts of human development on bird populations.
Garth M. Spellman1,2, Raeann Mettler1,2, Shane Sarver1,2 and John Klicka3. Cryptic genetic variation in 82 a coniferous forest management indicator species (Aves, Certhiidae: Certhia americana). 1Center for the Conservation of Biological Resources, Black Hills State University, USA; 2Western South Dakota Core DNA Lab, Biology Department, Black Hills State University, USA; 3Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA.
Contemporary forest management practice incorporates the use of indicator species, taxa sensitive to deforestation, to assess forest health following timber harvests and forest regeneration. Owing to its widespread distribution and need for primary or late secondary growth forest, the Brown Creeper (Certhia Americana) is a common indicator species used in the management of North American coniferous forests. However, little is known concerning the biology, especially the evolutionary biology, of this species. A lack of knowledge concerning the evolutionary history of the Brown Creeper could lead to a misinterpretation of the life history and relative abundance data used to guide management decisions. In this study, we employ a multi-locus phylogeographic analysis of genetic variation of the Brown Creeper throughout its range to infer its evolutionary history. Phylogenetic analysis of combined mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence datasets identifies four reciprocally monophyletic clades. These clades correspond geographically with the regional North American coniferous forests (Eastern North America, Rocky Mountains and Great Basin Ranges, Sierra Nevada and Cascades Mountains, and the Mountain ranges of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras). The phylogeographic structure of the Brown Creeper in these regional forests should be accounted for in its continued use as an indicator species.
Craig A. Stockwell1 and Michael L. Collyer2 Rapid evolutionary divergence of pupfish morphology 83 surpasses historical divergence. 1Department of Biological Sciences, Stevens Hall, North Dakota Sate University, USA; 2Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, USA.
Refuge populations are often established as a conservation tool for protected fish species, but the evolutionary implications of such actions are not well understood. In fact, translocations may mimic the rapid shift in selection pressure that occurred as fish populations were isolated in divergent habitats during desiccation of the Pleistocene lakes. We used geometric morphometrics to evaluate body shape in native and recently introduced populations of the White Sands pupfish, Cyprinodon tularosa. We examined wild populations as well as experimental populations that were raised under one of two salinity treatments for one generation. Intra-population shape differences between high and low salinity were comparatively smaller than shape differences between native strains of pupfish, suggesting that body shape is heritable. These data collectively suggest that the recently established “refuge” population (30 years) experienced contemporary morphological evolution, thus reducing its value as a “genetic replicate” of its native source population. Further, the divergence level exceeded the historic divergence of native populations isolated in similar contrasting environments since the Pleistocene. Our results illustrate that adaptive morphological divergence may arise rapidly. Because morphology is an important component of pupfish diversity, our data suggests that planned reintroductions may allow managers to enhance biodiversity for western fishes.
William R. Swindell1,2 and Juan L. Bouzat1. Purging of deleterious recessive alleles during historical 84 inbreeding reduces the magnitude of inbreeding depression. 1Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA; 2Current address: Department of Statistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
An important issue in conservation biology is the extent to which inbreeding depression can be reduced by natural selection. If deleterious recessive alleles causing inbreeding depression can be purged by natural selection, outbred populations with a history of inbreeding are expected to be less susceptible to inbreeding depression. We designed two experiments using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system to test for an association between inbreeding history and inbreeding depression. In the first experiment, we created six "purged" populations from experimental lineages that had been maintained at a population size of 10 male-female pairs for 19 generations, and measured the inbreeding depression that resulted from one generation of full-sib mating in the purged and the original base populations. In the second experiment, we examined the inbreeding depression that occurred in lineages maintained under pedigrees that led to the same inbreeding coefficient but different levels of ancestral inbreeding. We found that the magnitude of inbreeding depression was reduced by 66% in populations that had a history of inbreeding, and by 40% in populations with high levels of ancestral inbreeding. These results suggest that purging can limit the threat that inbreeding depression poses to population viability and persistence.
William J. Sydeman, Peter Warzybok, Russell W. Bradley, and Ellie M. Cohen. Fitness and Phenology in 85 a Marine Bird (Uria aalge): Adaptation to Changing Ocean Climate or Recovery from Artificial Selection? Marine Ecology Division, PRBO Conservation Science, 3820 Cypress Drive, No. 11, Petaluma, CA 94954
The seasonal cycle is the dominant mode of temporal ecosystem productivity in many north-temperate environments. The California Current System (CCS) is a sub-arctic, large marine ecosystem (LME) off the west coast of North America characterized by substantial temporal environmental variability including the seasonal cycle, but ENSO events and lower frequency climate variability such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation as well. This system has also been strongly influenced by humans through fishing and other forms of exploitation (e.g., seabird egg collecting). We tested the hypothesis that humans, at multiple levels of impact (from the population to ecosystem), have affected life history evolution in a dominant CCS species, a seabird, the Common Murre (Uria aalge). To test this hypothesis we coupled information on physical and biological attributes of the ecosystem, including prey fields, and related them to measurements of phenology (breeding date) and a fitness component (breeding success) of murres reproducing at the Farallon Islands over a 35-year period, 1972 – 2006. We found that phenology (proxied by mean annual egg-laying dates for ~150 pairs of murres each year) has advanced by ~20 days over the period, with a slowing of change in recent years. Interannual variation in mean phenology was substantial and related to ocean climate (sea temperature), prey availability (zooplankton and fish), and intrinsic population characteristics (density). Paradoxically, while murre egg-laying dates became earlier in general, they were later in “warm-water” years (ENSO), and when the PDO was positive (i.e, in a “warm phase”). We found evidence for directional selection (for early breeding) throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and stabilizing selection (intermediate breeding dates) in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While the Farallon murre population may be adapting to ongoing climate changes and variation in spawning dates of its prey, it is possible that the patterns observed are residual human impacts, reflective of artificial selection for late breeding brought about by egg-collecting in the mid to late 1800s.
Ali G. Tackett1, Jeffrey S. Heilveil1, Craig A. Stockwell1. Genetic structure of a native fish species, 86 Etheostoma nigrum (Rafinesque) in the upper Midwest. 1Environmental and Conservation Sciences, Biology Department, North Dakota Sate University, USA.
We examined eight populations of Johnny Darter, Etheostoma nigrum (Rafinesque) from three drainage basins; Red River of the North, upper Missouri River, and upper Mississippi River. Johnny Darters, a non- migratory fish inhabiting the benthic environment throughout the upper Midwest. Information obtained from microsatellite analysis provides both inferred gene flow among darters and a baseline against which to evaluate gene flow for other fishes located in these watersheds. We examined 7 microsatellite loci using primers developed for congeners of E. nigrum. Using AMOVA, we observed strong evidence of a watershed effect with 35% of the genetic variance among watersheds. This was driven by high divergence of Missouri River populations. Variance between populations within drainages accounted for 4% of the total variation. This observation was further supported using STRUCTURE (Pritchard et al., 2000). This analysis identified three well supported assemblages, which roughly agreed with watershed assignment. One notable exception to this pattern was observed for Lake Ida, a hydrologically isolated lake. This lake is geographically located in the Red River drainage; however, the population more closely aligned with populations from the upper Mississippi River. As anticipated, these data suggest that Johnny darters show considerable geographic genetic structure in the upper Midwest.
Carl-Gustaf Thulin1,2, Göran Ericsson2, Kjell Danell2, and Roger Bergström2,3. Long term genetic 87 consequences of intense hunting pressure on Scandinavian moose (Alces alces). 1Population Biology and Conservation Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Uppsala University, Sweden; 2Department of Animal Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden; 3Forestry Research Institute of Sweden, Uppsala Science Park, Sweden.
Research on managed populations can increase our understanding of the speed of differentiation, local adaptation and the forces driving these processes. Moose (Alces alces) is a popular game species in the northern hemisphere. In 1789, the Swedish king Gustav III allowed free hunting on all ungulates, which led to a dramatic decline of the moose population. After careful management during the 20th century the population recovered and is today the most important game species in Sweden. Allozyme investigations indicate that the Swedish moose population contain very little polymorphism. Thus, to gain better resolution of the differentiation processes after the decline, we investigated a panel of 12 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers in 326 Swedish moose specimens representing 13 populations. Preliminary analysis indicate a cline in central Sweden, with pairwise FST in-between south/central populations and northern populations, respectively, below 0.1 and between approximately 0.2. We believe the observed cline is due to limited longitudal geneflow between contiguous populations. Potentially, there may also have been separate founder events of northern and southern populations during the 19th century decline. Our results show the value of detailed assessment of genetic differentiation and the importance of locally adapted, sustainable, management plans.
Joëlle Tirindelli1, Sarah Cohen1, Diane Nacci2, and Denise Champlin2. Variation in the Major 88 Histocompatibility class IIDB gene region between polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated and reference populations of the mummichog fish, Fundulus heteroclitus.1Romberg Tiburon Center, Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, 3152 Paradise Drive, Tiburon, CA, 94920, USA. 2US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Atlantic Ecology Division, 27 Tarzwell Drive, Narragansett, RI, 02882, USA.
Organisms in a contaminated environment may experience a change in selection pressures that may alter the allele frequencies of genes under selection in a population. Allele frequency changes may have negative effects on individual fitness and on population viability. The objective of this study was to investigate potential variation in genetic diversity and in amino acid composition between polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated and reference populations of the mummichog fish, Fundulus heteroclitus, focusing on the Major Histocompatibility (MH) class IIDB exon 2 gene region. MH proteins are important in pathogen recognition, and therefore, if contaminant-related genetic adaptation results in changes in MH genes, these changes might compromise the population’s response to novel pathogens. While I found no evidence of a loss of MH class IIDB diversity in the contaminated population (Bridgeport, CT, USA), there were statistically significant differences in MH IIDB amino acid composition between Bridgeport and a reference population (Westport, CT, USA), including differences in peptide binding pocket 4. In other vertebrates, pocket 4 variation has been shown to influence antigen binding, and therefore may relate to differences in immune system function.
Michelle Tseng. The effect of human-mediated interpopulation hybridization on population fitness 89 and species interactions. Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 E. Third St., Bloomington, IN, 47405. Current address: Department of Zoology. University of British Columbia, 2370-6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4.
The increased transport of humans and cargo worldwide elevates the likelihood that previously isolated populations will be brought into contact. The merging of these populations can affect species interactions if hybrid populations have significantly higher or lower fitness than parentals, or if the presence of immigrant or hybrid populations disrupts coevolution among local species. Here the mosquito Aedes albopictus and its coevolved parasite Asccogregarina taiwanensis were used to test whether interpopulation mosquito hybridization increased or decreased population fitness of mosquitoes and their parasites. F1 mosquito hybrids exhibited heterosis for survival when uninfected by parasites, but when infected, there was no difference in fitness among parental or hybrid (F1 or F2) populations. Mosquito hybridization also influenced parasite fitness: A. taiwanensis reproduction was highest in sympatric hosts, and relatively lower in allopatric and hybrid hosts. These results suggest that the hybridization of previously isolated populations can affect species and population interactions by increasing population fitness of the focal organism, as well as by decreasing the fitness of coevolved species.
Thomas F. Turner1, Megan J. Osborne1, Gregory R. Moyer2, Melissa A. Benavides1, and Dominique Alò1. 90 Life history and environmental variation interact to determine effective population to census size ratio. 1Department of Biology and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, USA.; 2Oregon State University, Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, Hatfield Marine Science Center, USA.
Successful recovery and sustainability of threatened and exploited species depends in part on retention and maintenance of genetic diversity. Theory indicates that genetic diversity is lost at a rate inversely proportional to the genetically effective population size (Ne), which is roughly equal to one-half the adult census size (N) in many organisms. However, Ne has been reported to be up to five orders of magnitude lower than N in species with life histories that result in type III survivorship (high fecundity, but heavy mortality in early life stages, e.g., bony fishes), prompting speculation that low values of Ne may be a general feature of such organisms despite sometimes vast abundances. Here, we compared Ne and the ratio Ne/N across three ecologically similar fish species from the arid southwestern USA, all with type III life histories, but with differing expectations of egg and larval survivorship that correlate with the degree of human-imposed habitat fragmentation. Our study indicates that type III life history may be necessary, but alone is insufficient to account for extraordinarily low values of Ne/N. Rather, life history interacts with environmentally-imposed mortality to determine the rate and magnitude of change in genetic diversity in these desert fish species.
Ella Vázquez-Domínguez1, Rodrigo Vega1 & Alfredo D. Cuarón2 Genetic variability and population 91 structure of an island endemic rodent (Oryzomys couesi cozumelae): conservation implications. 1 Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-275, Ciudad Universitaria, México DF, 04510, México. 2 Departamento de Etología, Fauna Silvestre y Animales de Laboratorio, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-483, Ciudad Universitaria, México DF, 04510, México.
Oryzomys couesi cozumelae is an endemic, threatened rodent from Cozumel Island, Mexico. We estimated its genetic diversity and structure with microsatellite loci across the island. Unexpected high levels of genetic and allelic diversity were found, which are higher than those reported for small sized island mammals and similar to those of mainland populations. A significant population structure was also observed and, despite factors that affect Cozumel’s biota, like natural and exotic predators and competitors, hurricanes, seasonal population fluctuations and anthropogenic activities, no evidence of genetic bottlenecks was found. Our findings render O. c. cozumelae a high conservation value, not only for its high genetic diversity and structure, but because available data suggests that its population might be declining significantly in recent years. Further habitat fragmentation and population isolation could result in a higher genetic structure and loss of genetic diversity. The protection of habitat, the maintenance of habitat connectivity and the removal of introduced competitors and predators are of high conservation priority. Acknowledging that the genetic structure of populations has crucial implications for management and conservation, the present genetic information should be taken into account in management plans for the conservation of O. c. cozumelae.
1 92 André Villaseñor. U.S. EPA Partnerships & Climate Change. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 San Francisco.
WasteWise is a free, voluntary, EPA program helping U.S. organizations eliminate costly municipal solid waste, benefiting the bottom line and the environment. What many people do not realize is that solid waste prevention and recycling can also help reduce climate change impacts. Creating less waste decreases the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to everyday trash. The Waste Reduction Model (WARM) was created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help solid waste planners and organizations estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions from several different waste management practices. WARM is a tool that calculates and totals GHG emissions of baseline and alternative waste management practices—source reduction, recycling, combustion, composting, and landfilling. The model calculates in metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE), metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E), and energy units (million BTU) across a wide range of material types that compose municipal solid waste (MSW). WARM can help solid waste planners and organizations track and voluntarily report GHG emissions reductions from several different waste management practices.
Stuart Wagenius1. Reproductive failure and reduced progeny fitness: two genetic consequences of 93 fragmentation in the widespread prairie plant Echinacea angustifolia. 1Institute for Plant Conservation, Chicago Botanic Garden, USA.
Habitat fragmentation reduces population size in many plant species. Pollination and individual fitness are hypothesized to decline in small remnants due to reduced genetic diversity and inbreeding. The tallgrass prairie of North America is one of the most fragmented ecosystems in the world, yet many plant species remain widespread. Will they persist in small remnant populations? I examined reproduction in Echinacea angustifolia growing in 27 tallgrass prairie remnants and fitness of their progeny growing in a common garden. Echinacea has common prairie plant traits such as longevity, self-incompatibility, and pollination by generalist bees. Reproduction in Echinacea is strongly pollen-limited with population mean seed set ranging from 0-60%. The spatial pattern of reproductive failure was associated with low diversity of compatible mates, where compatibility is determined by the S-locus. A demographic model showed that this genetically-based Allee effect is forecast to increase local extinctions rate over time as drift reduces S- locus diversity. Additionally, a common garden experiment revealed that offspring fitness (survival and reproductive effort) through age 10 was lowest in plants originating from the smallest remnants. Echinacea, like many prairie plants, has reproductive traits suited to large continuous populations, but individuals and their progeny suffer when constrained to small remnants.
Faith M. Walker, Paul Sunnucks, and Andrea C. Taylor. Evidence for habitat fragmentation altering 94 within-population processes in wombats. Australian Centre for Biodiversity Analysis, Policy and Management, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton 3800, Victoria, Australia.
Demographic isolation of populations due to habitat fragmentation results in an accumulation of relatives as a consequence of reduced dispersal. This has profound potential implications for mating and social systems – and ultimately population persistence – since the chance for inbred matings and kin interactions are amplified. Despite its conservation impact, rarely have studies addressed human-induced within- fragment changes to population processes. With this aim, we examined spatial relatedness structure in two candidate isolated populations (Kulpara and Scrubby Peak) of southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons). Wombats were sampled by remote hair-trapping for highly-resolving microsatellite genotyping. In the longest-isolated population (Kulpara), habitat fragmentation was associated with inhibited female dispersal and high population density, which profoundly altered kin relationships. There were two primary responses. First, female relatives preferred to coexist, a radical departure from the active avoidance in continuous habitat. Females under the constraints of high wombat density and inhibited dispersal interact with female relatives rather than less-related females, perhaps as a means to minimize the costs of sociality and/or maximize indirect fitness. Second, inbreeding avoidance appeared to be stronger at Kulpara than in other populations of the species, which may be due to an increased effort to avoid inbreeding under inhibited dispersal.
Arthur E. Weis1, Jeffrey K. Conner2, Julie R. Etterson3, Susan J. Mazer4 and Ruth G. Shaw5. Project 95 Baseline: Preserving Genetic Materials for Future Studies On Evolutionary Change. 1Depatment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California-Irvine, USA; 2Kellogg Biological Station, USA; 3Department of Biology, University of Minnesota-Duluth; 4Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California-Santa Barbara; 5Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, USA.
Global climate change is presenting evolutionary biologists with a grand “experiment” in adaptation and natural selection. Project Baseline is a newly-forming, nation-wide effort to collect, preserve and archive the plant seeds that future plant biologists will need to gauge the evolutionary impacts of climate warming and other anthropogenic environmental changes. Many workers are currently focused on questions such as “Which traits are under selection?” or “Which types of plant species are most likely to show an evolutionary response?” How will their predictions be tested? Suppose that fifty years from now, biologists could resurrect genotypes from the year 2007 and grow them side-by-side in controlled environments with genotypes they collect in 2057. Any differences between the ancestral and descendent generations in ecologically important traits could then be unambiguously attributed to evolutionary change. Future advances in molecular technology and bioinformatics will make it economically feasible to pinpoint the genetic basis of observed changes. Plants are amenable to this “resurrection protocol” because seeds can be preserved in a frozen state for decades. Project Baseline will collect and freeze seed from multiple populations of a dozen or more carefully chosen plant species and hold them in reserve for experiments by future biologists.
Andrew R. Whiteley1, Scott Gende2, Anthony J. Gharrett3, and David A. Tallmon1. The build-up of 96 genetic structure during colonization of recently deglaciated habitat. 1Biology Program, University of Alaska Southeast, USA; 2National Park Service, Juneau, Alaska, USA; 3Juneau Center, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA.
Understanding the interaction of evolutionary processes during habitat colonization will become increasingly important as the rate of anthropogenic disturbances increase. However, it is often difficult to follow the colonization process from its initial stages because it is so ephemeral. Regions where active glacial recession is occurring provide natural experimental conditions to study colonization. As ice sheets recede, it is possible to compare how evolutionary processes are occurring in replicate populations with a known chronology. The goal of our project is to examine neutral and adaptive evolution in a freshwater fish following rapid deglaciation in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Ice sheets have retreated greatly in the last 200- years in Glacier Bay, creating many new rivers of varying ages. The coastrange sculpin (Cottus aleuticus) has colonized these new systems rapidly. We used microsatellites to examine the build-up of genetic structure among populations and to compare genetic diversity within populations to stream ages. Our results, together within ongoing analysis of possible adaptive color differences, will provide detailed information on the interaction of evolutionary processes during colonization of new habitats.
Erin E. Wilson1 and David A. Holway1. Effects of an invasive social wasp on endemic Hawaiian 97 arthropods. 1Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, USA.
The introduction of non-native organisms is a leading cause of species imperilment, especially on oceanic islands. This study examines the mechanisms underlying the success of an invasive social wasp, Vespula pensylvanica, the western yellowjacket. Because Hawaii has native social insects, endemic prey may lack evolved defenses against predatory social wasps. In controlled and replicated experiments in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Haleakala National Park, we investigated the effects of V. pensylvanica invasions on native arthropods. Abundances of larval Lepidoptera and Araneae increased significantly following V. pensylvanica removal. These trends remained strong several months after nest removal and indicate that V. pensylvanica exert significant predatory pressure on moth and spider populations. The impact of V. pensylvanica may be further magnified by a change from annual to perennial colonies in its introduced range. Because overwintering perennial colonies can become 10 times more productive than annual colonies, this evolutionary change in colony structure has serious ecological implications for native prey taxa. Through predation and increased productivity, the invasive V. pensylvanica poses a potentially devastating threat to the native and largely endemic biota of Hawaii.
Isaac Wirgin1, Nirmal Roy1, and R. Christopher Chambers2. Dramatic resistance of the Atlantic tomcod 98 population in the Hudson River to PCBs and Dioxin. 1Department of Environmental Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, USA; 2NE Fisheries Science Center NOAA Fisheries, USA.
Atlantic tomcod from the Hudson River (HR) bioaccumulate unusually high levels of PCBs and dioxins. Tomcod from the HR are at least two-orders of magnitude less sensitive to early life-stage toxicities and induction of cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) by PCBs and TCDD, but not PAHs, than tomcod from cleaner rivers. Because CYP1A expression is important in the metabolism of these compounds and predictive of higher level toxicities, we proposed that tomcod from the HR have developed resistance because of chronic high levels of exposure to these compounds. We attempted to determine the mechanistic basis of resistance by characterizing structure and expression of genes in the AHR pathway, which mediates transcription of CYP1A and higher level toxicities of these compounds. Resistance in tomcod is largely heritable to at least the F2 generation and is observed in all tissues and life-stages. Expression of AHR pathway genes did not differ significantly between resistant and sensitive populations, but all tomcod from the HR exhibited non-synonymous polymorphisms in AHR not seen in tomcod from two sensitive populations. The functional significance of the AHR variants is being experimentally evaluated. These results indicate that tomcod from the HR have undergone significant evolutionary change probably from contaminant exposure. Because of their unique position in the HR ecosystem (only winter spawners), it is likely that tomcod are a vector for the trophic transfer of high levels of pollutants to the apex of the HR food web.
Samantha M. Wisely1, Susan J. Brown1, and Sanjeev Naranayan2 Evolutionary consequences of heavy 99 metal contamination to deer mice and their intestinal microbial community. 1Division of Biology, Kansas State University, USA; 2Pathobiology Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, USA.
Increasingly, toxicologists recognize the importance of incorporating evolutionary approaches to investigate the consequences of contamination. Over 100 years of heavy metal mining has resulted in the contamination of soil and water over a 7500 mi2 area of the Midwest. Much of the area has been remediated for human health, however little is known about the efficacy of measures for environmental restoration. Using paired remediated vs. reference sites, we investigated relative fitness of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) at remediated sites. Because heavy metals alter microbial communities, we investigated adaptive differences of the intestinal microbes of these mice. At remediated sites, small mammal community diversity was lower; deer mice had poorer body condition, including decreased body mass, increased tissue pathology, and smaller body size than mice on reference sites. Gene expression profiles indicated increased expression of genes associated with tumor formation. Intestinal microbial diversity was lower at remediated sites, and resistance to heavy metals and antibiotics was greater for microbes isolated from remediated sites. Remediated sites appear to act as biological sinks for deer mice populations. Nonetheless, some animals survive to reproduce and serve as hosts for bacteria that are evolving to be resistant to both heavy metals and antibiotics.
Kevin Wright1, David Lowry1, Mark Macnair2, and John Willis1. The genetics of copper tolerance in 100 Mimulus guttatus. 1Department of Biology, Duke University, USA; 2Department of Biology, University of Exeter, UK.
Anthropogenic changes in many of the earth’s ecosystems have resulted in evolutionary change in many species. The adaptation of plants to heavy metal contaminated soils near mines is a well-documented example of this process. Understanding the genetic mechanisms that control tolerance to mine soils is important to determine how the mechanisms of adaptation in this system. The yellow monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus (Phrymaceae), provides an excellent system to study the mechanisms of adaptation to mine soils because multiple tolerant populations exist on abandoned mines near Copperopolis, CA. Studies of these populations by Macnair found that tolerance is controlled by a single locus and a few epistatic modifiers. I have used the M. guttatus linkage map to locate the tolerance locus to a genomic region of 3 cM. I plan to continue fine mapping this region once the M. guttatus complete genome sequence is completed in spring, 2007. To determine the strength of natural selection on this locus in nature, I am conducting a reciprocal transplant experiment at Copperopolis. Gal Yaacobi1, and Dafna Kaufman1. Scale dependent responses of beetle genetic and phenotypic 101 diversity to temporal variability. 1Life Sciences Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
Population diversity, an important level of biodiversity, can be measured as variation in the genetic and phenotypic makeup of populations along geographical and ecological gradients. The degree of such variation is strongly affected by both spatial and temporal variability. We conducted a field study on beetle populations inhabiting the fragmented landscape of the Southern Judean Lowland in Israel. To control for the effect of spatial heterogeneity, we sampled different populations of a generalist and highly abundant darkling beetle species along a steep climatic gradient where fragmentation intensity was approximately the same. We found that beetle genetic and phenotypic diversity were positively correlated with temporal weather variability at the monthly and seasonal scales. Nevertheless, genetic differentiation among these populations was moderate suggesting that gene flow is not restricted along this geographical gradient. Classical literature referring to the interplay between population diversity and temporal variability has examined temporal weather variation at the yearly scale. However, this time scale may be problematic when investigating univoltine species, which often respond to shorter scales such as season or month as presented in our study. We thus suggest that to better understand how an organism perceives the environment it is necessary to examine its response to varying temporal scales.
Helen J. Young and Kristen Pelz. Effects of habitat fragmentation on pollinator communities in New 102 England. Department of Biology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont USA
In North America, bumblebees (Bombus) are native and honeybees (Apis) are introduced. Since their introduction to the United States over 250 years ago, honeybees have become important pollinators of many plant species. The recent decline in native pollinator species diversity could be due, in part, to habitat degradation and/or fragmentation, as well as competition with non-native honeybees. We studied the relationship between habitat fragmentation and bumblebee abundance in Vermont. We studied bees at the flowers they visited in meadows and old-fields of varying sizes and degrees of isolation from both other meadows and from forests. Agricultural fields (corn, alfalfa, and pasture) and urbanization adds to the fragmented landscape that these pollinators navigate. Using GIS, we examined the effects of different land-use cover on bumblebee abundance. The proportion of visits to flowers by bumblebees was positively correlated with percent forest cover and negatively correlated with percent pasture cover. In addition, bumblebee abundance increased with increasing distance to honeybee colonies and with the proportion of the plant species in the fields that are native. These results suggest that bumblebee abundance is affected by many factors: density of honeybees (competition), floral composition in fields (floral morphology), and forest cover (nesting habitat).
Evgueni V. Zakharov, and Jessica J. Hellmann. The Achilles' heel of DNA barcoding: mtDNA 103 introgression in skipper butterflies. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
Global climate change and anthropogenic habitat alteration are leading threats to biodiversity, and faunistic analysis to discover new species can not keep up with the rates of extinction from these processes. DNA barcoding, based on partial sequence of the mtDNA gene COI, has been proposed to speed up identification of biodiversity hotspots. Despite a number of advantages of a DNA-based approach, there are limits to its application such as mtDNA paraphyly and introgression. Using a model butterfly system we show how introgression in the mitochondrial genome could confound barcoding efforts. Based on nucleotide sequences of ND5 and COI genes, we discovered a highly divergent mtDNA haplotype was discovered in populations of Erynnis propertius throughout the species’ range with several populations "fixed" at single highly divergent haplotype (~5% uncorrected p-distance). The hypothesis that this is a cryptic species is not supported by adult morphology and nuclear DNA markers, suggesting a possible case of mitochondrial introgression. Phylogenetic analysis of other congeneric species revealed that the divergent haplotype belongs to another species, E. horatius, which is allopatric with E. propertius. Discovery of mtDNA introgression between E. propertius and E. horatius raises questions about the reliability of DNA barcoding for proper species identification. It also causes us to revisit the question of what constitutes the genetic diversity that species-level conservation aims to conserve.
Audrey Zannese1 and Tim Benton1. Population responses to inbreeding and environmental 104 perturbations: an experimental study. 1 Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
To understand how populations respond to environmental and genetic stochasticities is of crucial importance for the management of populations. There is ample evidence that inbreeding depression reduces the fitness of individuals and increases the extinction risk of small populations. However there are few experimental data on the long-term dynamics of inbred populations. We performed an experiment exploring the population dynamics of a soil mite, Sancassania berlesei. Populations coming from either a wild stock or an inbred stock were subject to different kinds of environmental perturbations: random harvesting and/or decrease in food. Random harvesting affect the mortality rate of adults and decrease in food allows to controlling the size of the population. We present the results of this experiment comparing the population responses of wild and inbred populations to various sources of perturbations.