Chapter 8 the Units and Levels of Selection Samir Okasha
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Geographically Variable Biotic Interactions and Implications for Species Ranges
ORE Open Research Exeter TITLE Geographically variable biotic interactions and implications for species ranges AUTHORS Early, R; Keith, S JOURNAL Global Ecology and Biogeography DEPOSITED IN ORE 22 November 2018 This version available at http://hdl.handle.net/10871/34864 COPYRIGHT AND REUSE Open Research Exeter makes this work available in accordance with publisher policies. A NOTE ON VERSIONS The version presented here may differ from the published version. If citing, you are advised to consult the published version for pagination, volume/issue and date of publication 1 Geographically variable biotic interactions and implications for species 2 ranges 3 Running title: Geographic variation in biotic interactions 4 Abstract: 5 The challenge: Understanding how biotic interactions affect species’ geographic ranges, biodiversity 6 patterns, and ecological responses to environmental change is one of the most pressing challenges 7 in macroecology. Extensive efforts are underway to detect signals of biotic interactions in 8 macroecological data. However, efforts are limited by bias in the taxa and spatial scale for which 9 occurrence data are available, and by difficulty in ascribing causality to co-occurrence patterns. 10 Moreover, we are not necessarily looking in the right places: analyses are largely ad hoc, depending 11 on data availability, rather than focusing on regions, taxa, ecosystems, or interaction types where 12 biotic interactions might affect species’ geographic ranges most strongly. 13 Unpicking biotic interactions: We suggest that macroecology would benefit from recognising that 14 abiotic conditions alter two key components of biotic interaction strength: frequency and intensity. 15 We outline how and why variation in biotic interaction strength occurs, explore the implications for 16 species’ geographic ranges, and discuss the challenges inherent in quantifying these effects. -
Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience
OXFORD LIBRARY OF NEUROSCIENCE Editor-in-Chief GORDON M. SHEPHERD Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience Edited by Mark S. Blumberg John H. Freeman Scott R. Robinson 3 2010 Introduction: A New Frontier for Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience Mark S. Blumberg, John H. Freeman, and Scott R. Robinson As editors of this volume, we wrestled with alter- (2) to highlight current opportunities to advance native titles to capture what we felt was a theo- our understanding of behavioral and neural devel- retically connected but highly interdisciplinary opment through enhanced interactions between fi eld of science. Previous edited volumes that have DP and its sister disciplines. addressed related content areas were published In 1975, in his infl uential book Sociobiology: over a 15-year span beginning in the mid-1980s T e New Synthesis, E. O. Wilson famously looked under the label of “developmental psychobiology” forward to the year 2000 when, he predicted, (e.g., Blass, 1986, 1988, 2001; Krasnegor, Blass, the various subdisciplines of behavioral biology Hofer, & Smotherman, 1987; Shair, Hofer, & Barr, could be represented by a fi gure in the shape of a 1991). Although all three of the editors of the pre- barbell—the narrow shaft representing the dwin- sent volume have longstanding ties to the fi eld of dling domain of the whole organism (i.e., ethology developmental psychobiology (DP) and its parent and comparative psychology) and the two bulging society (the International Society for Developmental orbs at each end comprising the burgeoning fi elds Psychobiology), we also view our work as part of a of sociobiology and neurophysiology. -
Neural Darwinism Inspired Implementation of an Artificial
P. Chanthini and K. Shyamala International Journal of Control Theory and Applications ISSN : 0974–5572 © International Science Press Volume 10 • Number 23 • 2017 Neural Darwinism Inspired Implementation of an Artifi cial Neural Network Model P. Chanthinia and K. Shyamalab aResearch Scholar, PG and Research Department of Computer Science, Dr. Ambedkar Government Arts College (Autonomus), Affi liated to University of Madras, Chennai, India. E-mail: [email protected] bAssociate Professor, PG and Research Department of Computer Science, Dr. Ambedkar Government Arts College (Autonomus), Affi liated to University of Madras, Chennai,India E-mail: [email protected] Abstract : Vast scope in exploration of the biological neural system and brain functions continually open rooms for improvement in Artifi cial Neural Network (ANN) studies. This work is an effect of an effort in adopting the biological theory “Neural Darwinism: Selection” by GM. Edelman into Artifi cial Neural Network Model (ANNM). The newly implemented ANNM has provided scopes in designing new ANNMs using different biological theories in addition to the traditional way. This work illustrates an ANNM having two distinct portions, one physically static and other functionally dynamic. Rather than using the conventional method of training for weight adjustment, this model uses static weight representation and dynamic selection of artifi cial neural representations according to different problems, mimicking a biological neural selection theory- experiential selection. The result of this work depicts the successful implementation of an ANNM through newly adopted theory, solving multiple unipolar problems like XOR and N-Parity problems where the conventional method will require two or more separate feed-forward networks trained for each problem. -
Framing Major Prebiotic Transitions As Stages of Protocell Development: Three Challenges for Origins-Of-Life Research
Framing major prebiotic transitions as stages of protocell development: three challenges for origins-of-life research Ben Shirt-Ediss1, Sara Murillo-Sánchez2,3 and Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo*2,3 Commentary Open Access Address: Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1388–1395. 1Interdisciplinary Computing and Complex BioSystems Group, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.135 University of Newcastle, UK, 2Dept. Logic and Philosophy of Science, University of the Basque Country, Spain and 3Biofisika Institute Received: 16 February 2017 (CSIC, UPV-EHU), Spain Accepted: 27 June 2017 Published: 13 July 2017 Email: Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo* - [email protected] This article is part of the Thematic Series "From prebiotic chemistry to molecular evolution". * Corresponding author Guest Editor: L. Cronin Keywords: functional integration; origins of life; prebiotic evolution; protocells © 2017 Shirt-Ediss et al.; licensee Beilstein-Institut. License and terms: see end of document. Abstract Conceiving the process of biogenesis as the evolutionary development of highly dynamic and integrated protocell populations provides the most appropriate framework to address the difficult problem of how prebiotic chemistry bridged the gap to full-fledged living organisms on the early Earth. In this contribution we briefly discuss the implications of taking dynamic, functionally inte- grated protocell systems (rather than complex reaction networks in bulk solution, sets of artificially evolvable replicating molecules, or even these same replicating molecules encapsulated in passive compartments) -
Introduction to Macroevolution
Spring, 2012 Phylogenetics 200A Modes of Macroevolution Macroevolution is used to refer to any evolutionary change at or above the level of species. Darwin illustrated the combined action of descent with modification, the principle of divergence, and extinction in the only figure in On the Origin of Species (Fig. 1), showing the link between microevolution and macroevolution. The New Synthesis sought to distance itself from the ‘origin of species’ (= macroevolution) and concentrated instead on microevolution - variation within populations and reproductive isolation. “Darwin’s principle of divergence derives from what he thought to be one of the most potent components of the struggle for existence. He argued that the strongest interactions would be among individuals within a population or among closely related populations or species, because these organisms have the most similar requirements. Darwin’s principle of divergence predicts that the individuals, populations or species most likely to succeed in the struggle are those that differ most from their close relatives in the way they achieve their needs for survival and reproduction.” (Reznick & Ricklefs 2009. Nature 457) Macroevolution also fell into disfavor with its invocation for hopeful monsters in development as well as its implication in some Neo-Lamarckian theories. Interest in macroevolution revived by several paleontologists including Steven Stanley, Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, the latter two in the context of punctuated equilibrium. They proposed that what happens in evolution beyond the species level is due to processes that operate beyond the level of populations – including species selection. Niles Eldredge, in particular, has written extensively on the macroevolutionary hierarchy. -
Affective and Immune System Influences
Neural Development: Affective and Immune System Influences George F R Ellis 1 and Judith A Toronchuk 2 Abstract: This paper proposes that the developmental processes of Edelman's Neural Darwinism fit together in a very coherent way with the present increasing understanding of the importance of the affective dimension in neuroscience. A synthesis of these two features, with the evolutionarily determined primary affective systems together with the immune system providing the value system required by Neural Darwinism, provides an integrative viewpoint relating psychological issues at the macro level to neurobiological processes structuring neuronal connections at the micro level. We look at the various implications of such an integrative viewpoint relating genetically determined affective systems to higher cortical functions, considering successively developmental and functional issues, primary and secondary emotions, psychological issues, evolutionary issues, language, genetic issues, neurological issues, and potential outcomes of the proposal. We suggest that the “wet-wiring” nature of neurotransmitter mediated synaptic connections may be related to this integration. We then consider the implications of molecularly based links between the brain and the immune system, showing this too might play a significant role in the processes of neural Darwinism. Indeed this could possibly relate to the evolutionary origin of affective systems . 1: Introduction Two recent contributions have advanced understanding of brain function: Gerald Edelman’s “Neural Darwinism” (Edelman, 1989, 1992; Edelman and Tononi, 2001), dealing with how brain development and function can be well understood in terms of a process of natural selection applied to neural connections, and Jaak Panksepp’s formulation of “Affective Neuroscience” (Panksepp, 1998, 2001), addressing how neurobiological systems mediate the basic emotions 3. -
Microevolution and the Genetics of Populations Microevolution Refers to Varieties Within a Given Type
Chapter 8: Evolution Lesson 8.3: Microevolution and the Genetics of Populations Microevolution refers to varieties within a given type. Change happens within a group, but the descendant is clearly of the same type as the ancestor. This might better be called variation, or adaptation, but the changes are "horizontal" in effect, not "vertical." Such changes might be accomplished by "natural selection," in which a trait within the present variety is selected as the best for a given set of conditions, or accomplished by "artificial selection," such as when dog breeders produce a new breed of dog. Lesson Objectives ● Distinguish what is microevolution and how it affects changes in populations. ● Define gene pool, and explain how to calculate allele frequencies. ● State the Hardy-Weinberg theorem ● Identify the five forces of evolution. Vocabulary ● adaptive radiation ● gene pool ● migration ● allele frequency ● genetic drift ● mutation ● artificial selection ● Hardy-Weinberg theorem ● natural selection ● directional selection ● macroevolution ● population genetics ● disruptive selection ● microevolution ● stabilizing selection ● gene flow Introduction Darwin knew that heritable variations are needed for evolution to occur. However, he knew nothing about Mendel’s laws of genetics. Mendel’s laws were rediscovered in the early 1900s. Only then could scientists fully understand the process of evolution. Microevolution is how individual traits within a population change over time. In order for a population to change, some things must be assumed to be true. In other words, there must be some sort of process happening that causes microevolution. The five ways alleles within a population change over time are natural selection, migration (gene flow), mating, mutations, or genetic drift. -
Chapter 9. NATURAL SELECTION and BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
Chapter 9. NATURAL SELECTION AND BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION Which beginning of time [the Creation] according to our Chronologie, fell upon the entrance of the night preced- ing the twenty third day of Octob. in the year of the Julian Calendar, 710 [i.e. B.C. 4004]. Archbishop James Ussher (1581—1656) The Annals of the World1 (1658:1) “How stupid not to have thought of that!” Thomas Huxley (1825-1895), about Darwin’s theory of Evolution by Nat- ural Selection. I. Introduction A. Classical Discoveries of Biology From the mid 18th Century to the early part of the 20th, a large fraction of biologists’ efforts went into two massive collective discoveries, the discovery of biotic diversity, and the discovery of evolution. Over the period from 1750 to 1950 the careful descriptive analyses of Swedish biol- ogist Karl von Linné and his followers showed there to be on the order of 10 million or so different types of living organisms. The differences in biotas in different parts of the world came to be appreciated, the amazing diversity of the tropics was documented, and previ- ously unimagined major groups of organisms were discovered, including microorganisms and the biota of odd habitats like the oceanic plankton. The sometimes bizarre and always impressive adaptation of organisms to their habitats and ways of life greatly impressed the early scientific naturalists, who argued that it proved the existence of an All Seeing Design- er. Similarly, paleontologists described a huge variety of fossil plants and animals. The succession of forms, and the presence of many detailed structural similarities between liv- ing and extinct forms, as well as structural parallels between living forms, strongly suggest- ed that living and ancient forms of life were connected by branching lines of descent. -
Roger Sperry “Split-Brain” Experiment on Cats
Thinking about Thought • Introduction • The Brain • Philosophy of Mind • Dreams and • Cognitive Models Emotions • Machine Intelligence • Language • Life and • Modern Physics Organization • Consciousness • Ecology 1 Session Six: The Brain for Piero Scaruffi's class "Thinking about Thought" at UC Berkeley (2014) Roughly These Chapters of My Book “Nature of Consciousness”: 7. Inside the Brain 2 Prelude to the Brain • A word of caution: everything we think about the brain comes from our brain. • When I say something about the brain, it is my brain talking about itself. 3 Prelude to the Brain • What is the brain good at? • Recognizing! 4 Prelude to the Brain • What is the brain good at? Who is younger? 5 Behaviorism vs Cognitivism 6 Behaviorism • William James – The brain is built to ensure survival in the world – Cognitive faculties cannot be abstracted from the environment that they deal with – The brain is organized as an associative network – Associations are governed by a rule of reinforcement 7 Behaviorism • Behaviorism – Ivan Pavlov • Learning through conditioning: if an unconditioned stimulus (e.g., a bowl of meat) that normally causes an unconditioned response (e.g., the dog salivates) is repeatedly associated with a conditioned stimulus (e.g., a bell), the conditioned stimulus (the bell) will eventually cause the unconditioned response (the dog salivates) without any need for the unconditioned stimulus (the bowl of meat) • All forms of learning can be reduced to conditioning phenomena 8 Behaviorism • Behaviorism – Burrhus Skinner (1938) • A person does what she does because she has been "conditioned" to do that, not because her mind decided so. -
Uniting Micro- with Macroevolution Into an Extended Synthesis: Reintegrating Life’S Natural History Into Evolution Studies
Uniting Micro- with Macroevolution into an Extended Synthesis: Reintegrating Life’s Natural History into Evolution Studies Nathalie Gontier Abstract The Modern Synthesis explains the evolution of life at a mesolevel by identifying phenotype–environmental interactions as the locus of evolution and by identifying natural selection as the means by which evolution occurs. Both micro- and macroevolutionary schools of thought are post-synthetic attempts to evolution- ize phenomena above and below organisms that have traditionally been conceived as non-living. Microevolutionary thought associates with the study of how genetic selection explains higher-order phenomena such as speciation and extinction, while macroevolutionary research fields understand species and higher taxa as biological individuals and they attribute evolutionary causation to biotic and abiotic factors that transcend genetic selection. The microreductionist and macroholistic research schools are characterized as two distinct epistemic cultures where the former favor mechanical explanations, while the latter favor historical explanations of the evolu- tionary process by identifying recurring patterns and trends in the evolution of life. I demonstrate that both cultures endorse radically different notions on time and explain how both perspectives can be unified by endorsing epistemic pluralism. Keywords Microevolution · Macroevolution · Origin of life · Evolutionary biology · Sociocultural evolution · Natural history · Organicism · Biorealities · Units, levels and mechanisms of evolution · Major transitions · Hierarchy theory But how … shall we describe a process which nobody has seen performed, and of which no written history gives any account? This is only to be investigated, first, in examining the nature of those solid bodies, the history of which we want to know; and 2dly, in exam- ining the natural operations of the globe, in order to see if there now actually exist such operations, as, from the nature of the solid bodies, appear to have been necessary to their formation. -
Affective Neuronal Darwinism: the Nature of the Primary Emotional
Running Head: NATURE OF THE PRIMARY EMOTIONAL SYSTEMS Affective Neuronal Darwinism: The Nature of the Primary Emotional Systems Judith A. Toronchuk Psychology and Biology Departments, Trinity Western University and George F. R. Ellis Mathematics Department, University of Cape Town Contact information: Psychology Department, Trinity Western University 7600 Glover Road, Langley, B.C. V2Y 1Y1 Canada. Phone: 604-888-7511 extension 3104 email address: [email protected] Nature of the Primary Emotional Systems Abstract Based on studies in affective neuroscience and evolutionary psychiatry, a tentative new proposal is made here as to the nature and identification of primary emotions. Our model stresses phylogenetic origins of emotional systems, which we believe is necessary for a full understanding of the functions of emotions and additionally suggests that emotional organising systems play a role in sculpting the brain during ontogeny. Emotions thus affect cognitive development. A second proposal concerns two additions to the affective systems identified by Panksepp. We suggest there is substantial evidence for a primary emotional organising programme dealing with power, rank, dominance and subordination which instantiates competitive and territorial behaviour and becomes the evolutionary source of self-esteem in humans. A programme underlying disgust reactions which originally functioned in ancient vertebrates to protect against infection and toxins is also suggested. ___________________________________________________________ Introduction Cognitive development of individuals, we have suggested, proceeds in part due to influences of primary emotional operating systems which act collectively as fitness criteria guiding further neuronal development (Ellis & Toronchuk, 2005). In short, Panksepp’s (1998, 2001) formulation of affective neuroscience can be seen as a compliment to neural Darwinism as proposed by Edelman (1989, 1992). -
Patterns and Power of Phenotypic Selection in Nature
Articles Patterns and Power of Phenotypic Selection in Nature JOEL G. KINGSOLVER AND DAVID W. PFENNIG Phenotypic selection occurs when individuals with certain characteristics produce more surviving offspring than individuals with other characteristics. Although selection is regarded as the chief engine of evolutionary change, scientists have only recently begun to measure its action in the wild. These studies raise numerous questions: How strong is selection, and do different types of traits experience different patterns of selection? Is selection on traits that affect mating success as strong as selection on traits that affect survival? Does selection tend to favor larger body size, and, if so, what are its consequences? We explore these questions and discuss the pitfalls and future prospects of measuring selection in natural populations. Keywords: adaptive landscape, Cope’s rule, natural selection, rapid evolution, sexual selection henotypic selection occurs when individuals with selection on traits that affect survival stronger than on those Pdifferent characteristics (i.e., different phenotypes) that affect only mating success? In this article, we explore these differ in their survival, fecundity, or mating success. The idea and other questions about the patterns and power of phe- of phenotypic selection traces back to Darwin and Wallace notypic selection in nature. (1858), and selection is widely accepted as the primary cause of adaptive evolution within natural populations.Yet Darwin What is selection, and how does it work? never attempted to measure selection in nature, and in the Selection is the nonrandom differential survival or repro- century following the publication of On the Origin of Species duction of phenotypically different individuals.