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Azpeleta Tarancón A, Sánchez Meador AJ, Padilla T, Fulé PZ, Kim YS. Trends of forest and ecosystem services changes in the Mescalero Apache Tribal Lands. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2021; 31:e02459. [PMID: 34582603 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Forests are critically important for the provision of ecosystem services. The Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico, USA, are a hotspot for conservation management and the Mescalero Apache Tribe's homeland. The multiple ecosystem services and functions and its high vulnerability to changes in climate conditions make their forests of ecological, cultural, and social importance. We used data from the Mescalero Apache Tribal Lands (MATL) Continuous Forest Inventory over 30 yr to analyze changes in the structure and composition of ecosystems as well as trends in ecosystem services. Many provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services were shared among the MATL ecosystems and were tied to foundational species dominance, which could serve as a reliable indicator of ecosystem functioning. Our analysis indicates that the MATL are in an ongoing transition from conifer forests to woodlands with declines in two foundation species, quaking aspen and ponderosa pine, linked to past forest management and changing climate. In addition, we detected a decrease in species richness and tree size variability, amplifying the risk of forest loss in a rapid climatic change. Continuous permanent plots located on a dense grid (1 × 1 km) such as the ones monitored by the Bureau of Indian Affairs are the most detailed data available to estimate forests multiresource transitions over time. Native lands across the USA could serve as the leading edge of detecting decadal-scale forest changes and tracking climate impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicia Azpeleta Tarancón
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, 200 East Pine Knoll Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA
| | - Andrew J Sánchez Meador
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, 200 East Pine Knoll Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA
- Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA
| | - Thora Padilla
- Mescalero Apache Tribe, Division of Resource Management and Protection, Mescalero, New Mexico, 88340, USA
| | - Peter Z Fulé
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, 200 East Pine Knoll Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA
| | - Yeon-Su Kim
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, 200 East Pine Knoll Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA
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Urban MC, Scarpa A, Travis JMJ, Bocedi G. Maladapted Prey Subsidize Predators and Facilitate Range Expansion. Am Nat 2019; 194:590-612. [PMID: 31490731 DOI: 10.1086/704780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Dispersal of prey from predator-free patches frequently supplies a trophic subsidy to predators by providing more prey than are produced locally. Prey arriving from predator-free patches might also have evolved weaker defenses against predators and thus enhance trophic subsidies by providing easily captured prey. Using local models assuming a linear or accelerating trade-off between defense and population growth rate, we demonstrate that immigration of undefended prey increased predator abundances and decreased defended prey through eco-evolutionary apparent competition. In individual-based models with spatial structure, explicit genetics, and gene flow along an environmental gradient, prey became maladapted to predators at the predator's range edge, and greater gene flow enhanced this maladaptation. The predator gained a subsidy from these easily captured prey, which enhanced its abundance, facilitated its persistence in marginal habitats, extended its range extent, and enhanced range shifts during environmental changes, such as climate change. Once the predator expanded, prey adapted to it and the advantage disappeared, resulting in an elastic predator range margin driven by eco-evolutionary dynamics. Overall, the results indicate a need to consider gene flow-induced maladaptation and species interactions as mutual forces that frequently determine ecological and evolutionary dynamics and patterns in nature.
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Dibble CJ, Rudolf VHW. Phenotype-Environment Matching Predicts Both Positive and Negative Effects of Intraspecific Variation. Am Nat 2019; 194:47-58. [DOI: 10.1086/703483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Shanafelt DW, Clobert J, Fenichel EP, Hochberg ME, Kinzig A, Loreau M, Marquet PA, Perrings C. Species dispersal and biodiversity in human-dominated metacommunities. J Theor Biol 2018; 457:199-210. [PMID: 30176249 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.08.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2017] [Revised: 07/12/2018] [Accepted: 08/31/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The concept of the Anthropocene is based on the idea that human impacts are now the primary drivers of changes in the earth's systems, including ecological systems. In many cases, the behavior that causes ecosystem change is itself triggered by ecological factors. Yet most ecological models still treat human impacts as given, and frequently as constant. This undermines our ability to understand the feedbacks between human behavior and ecosystem change. Focusing on the problem of species dispersal, we evaluate the effect of dispersal on biodiversity in a system subject to predation by humans. People are assumed to obtain benefits from (a) the direct consumption of species (provisioning services), (b) the non-consumptive use of species (cultural services), and (c) the buffering effects of the mix of species (regulating services). We find that the effects of dispersal on biodiversity depend jointly on the competitive interactions among species, and on human preferences over species and the services they provide. We find that while biodiversity may be greatest at intermediate levels of dispersal, this depends on structure of preferences across the metacommunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W Shanafelt
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; Centre for Biodiversity Theory and Modelling, Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS and Paul Sabatier University, Moulis 09200, France.
| | - Jean Clobert
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS and Paul Sabatier University, Moulis 09200, France.
| | - Eli P Fenichel
- Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
| | - Michael E Hochberg
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution du CNRS, Université Montpellier 2, France; Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA.
| | - Ann Kinzig
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
| | - Michel Loreau
- Centre for Biodiversity Theory and Modelling, Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS and Paul Sabatier University, Moulis 09200, France; Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS and Paul Sabatier University, Moulis 09200, France.
| | - Pablo A Marquet
- Departamento de Ecología. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile; Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB).
| | - Charles Perrings
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
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Wittmann MJ, Fukami T. Eco-Evolutionary Buffering: Rapid Evolution Facilitates Regional Species Coexistence despite Local Priority Effects. Am Nat 2018; 191:E171-E184. [PMID: 29750553 DOI: 10.1086/697187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Inhibitory priority effects, in which early-arriving species exclude competing species from local communities, are thought to enhance regional species diversity via community divergence. Theory suggests, however, that these same priority effects make it difficult for species to coexist in the region unless individuals are continuously supplied from an external species pool, often an unrealistic assumption. Here we develop an eco-evolutionary hypothesis to solve this conundrum. We build a metacommunity model in which local priority effects occur between two species via interspecific interference. Within each species there are two genotypes: one is more resistant to interspecific interference than the other but pays a fitness cost for its resistance. Because of this trade-off, species evolve to become less resistant as they become regionally more common. Rare species can then invade some local patches and consequently recover in regional frequency. This "eco-evolutionary buffering" enables the regional coexistence of species despite local priority effects, even in the absence of immigration from an external species pool. Our model predicts that eco-evolutionary buffering is particularly effective when local communities are small and connected by infrequent dispersal.
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Sauterey B, Ward B, Rault J, Bowler C, Claessen D. The Implications of Eco-Evolutionary Processes for the Emergence of Marine Plankton Community Biogeography. Am Nat 2017; 190:116-130. [PMID: 28617645 DOI: 10.1086/692067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Models of community assembly have been used to illustrate how the many functionally diverse species that compose plankton food webs can coexist. However, the evolutionary processes leading to the emergence of plankton food webs and their interplay with migratory processes and spatial heterogeneity are yet to be explored. We study the eco-evolutionary dynamics of a modeled plankton community structured in both size and space and physiologically constrained by empirical data. We demonstrate that a complex yet ecologically and evolutionarily stable size-structured food web can emerge from an initial set of two monomorphic phytoplankton and zooplankton populations. We also show that the coupling of spatial heterogeneity and migration results in the emergence of specific biogeographic patterns: (i) the emergence of a source-sink structure of the plankton metacommunities, (ii) changes in size diversity dependent on migratory intensity and on the scale at which diversity is considered (local vs. global), and (iii) the emergence of eco-evolutionary provinces (i.e., a spatial unit characterized by some level of abiotic heterogeneity but of homogenous size composition due to horizontal movements) at spatial scales that increase with the strength of the migratory processes.
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The impact of regional landscape context on local maladaptive trait divergence: a field test using freshwater copepod acid tolerance. Evol Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-016-9853-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Shanafelt DW, Dieckmann U, Jonas M, Franklin O, Loreau M, Perrings C. Biodiversity, productivity, and the spatial insurance hypothesis revisited. J Theor Biol 2015; 380:426-35. [PMID: 26100182 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2014] [Revised: 06/09/2015] [Accepted: 06/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Accelerating rates of biodiversity loss have led ecologists to explore the effects of species richness on ecosystem functioning and the flow of ecosystem services. One explanation of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning lies in the spatial insurance hypothesis, which centers on the idea that productivity and stability increase with biodiversity in a temporally varying, spatially heterogeneous environment. However, there has been little work on the impact of dispersal where environmental risks are more or less spatially correlated, or where dispersal rates are variable. In this paper, we extend the original Loreau model to consider stochastic temporal variation in resource availability, which we refer to as "environmental risk", and heterogeneity in species dispersal rates. We find that asynchronies across communities and species provide community-level stabilizing effects on productivity, despite varying levels of species richness. Although intermediate dispersal rates play a role in mitigating risk, they are less effective in insuring productivity against global (metacommunity-level) than local (individual community-level) risks. These results are particularly interesting given the emergence of global sources of risk such as climate change or the closer integration of world markets. Our results offer deeper insights into the Loreau model and new perspectives on the effectiveness of spatial insurance in the face of environmental risks.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W Shanafelt
- Arizona State University, School of Life Sciences, PO Box 874601, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
| | | | | | | | - Michel Loreau
- Station d׳Ecologie Expérimentale du CNRS, 09200 Moulis, France.
| | - Charles Perrings
- Arizona State University, School of Life Sciences, PO Box 874601, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
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Hubert N, Calcagno V, Etienne RS, Mouquet N. Metacommunity speciation models and their implications for diversification theory. Ecol Lett 2015; 18:864-881. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.12458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2015] [Revised: 03/31/2015] [Accepted: 04/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Hubert
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution CNRS/IRD/UM2‐UMR5554 Université de Montpellier II Place Eugène Bataillon 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05 France
| | - Vincent Calcagno
- INRA Univ. Nice Sophia Antipolis CNRS, UMR Institut Sophia Agrobiotech 06900 Sophia Antipolis France
| | - Rampal S. Etienne
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences University of Groningen PO Box 11103 9700 CC Groningen The Netherlands
| | - Nicolas Mouquet
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution CNRS/IRD/UM2‐UMR5554 Université de Montpellier II Place Eugène Bataillon 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05 France
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Baron E, Richirt J, Villoutreix R, Amsellem L, Roux F. The genetics of intra‐ and interspecific competitive response and effect in a local population of an annual plant species. Funct Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Etienne Baron
- Laboratoire Génétique et Evolution des Populations Végétales UMR CNRS 8198 Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille – Lille 1 F‐59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex France
- INRA Laboratoire des Interactions Plantes‐Microorganismes (LIPM) UMR441 F‐31326 Castanet‐Tolosan France
- CNRS Laboratoire des Interactions Plantes‐Microorganismes (LIPM) UMR2594 F‐31326 Castanet‐Tolosan France
| | - Julien Richirt
- Laboratoire Génétique et Evolution des Populations Végétales UMR CNRS 8198 Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille – Lille 1 F‐59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex France
| | - Romain Villoutreix
- Laboratoire Génétique et Evolution des Populations Végétales UMR CNRS 8198 Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille – Lille 1 F‐59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex France
| | - Laurent Amsellem
- Laboratoire Génétique et Evolution des Populations Végétales UMR CNRS 8198 Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille – Lille 1 F‐59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex France
| | - Fabrice Roux
- Laboratoire Génétique et Evolution des Populations Végétales UMR CNRS 8198 Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille – Lille 1 F‐59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex France
- INRA Laboratoire des Interactions Plantes‐Microorganismes (LIPM) UMR441 F‐31326 Castanet‐Tolosan France
- CNRS Laboratoire des Interactions Plantes‐Microorganismes (LIPM) UMR2594 F‐31326 Castanet‐Tolosan France
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11
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Hand BK, Lowe WH, Kovach RP, Muhlfeld CC, Luikart G. Landscape community genomics: understanding eco-evolutionary processes in complex environments. Trends Ecol Evol 2015; 30:161-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2014] [Revised: 01/06/2015] [Accepted: 01/07/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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12
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Allhoff KT, Weiel EM, Rogge T, Drossel B. On the interplay of speciation and dispersal: An evolutionary food web model in space. J Theor Biol 2015; 366:46-56. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2014.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2014] [Revised: 09/10/2014] [Accepted: 11/08/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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13
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Vanschoenwinkel B, Buschke F, Brendonck L. Disturbance regime alters the impact of dispersal on alpha and beta diversity in a natural metacommunity. Ecology 2013; 94:2547-57. [DOI: 10.1890/12-1576.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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14
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Brady SP. Microgeographic maladaptive performance and deme depression in response to roads and runoff. PeerJ 2013; 1:e163. [PMID: 24109548 PMCID: PMC3792186 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2013] [Accepted: 08/28/2013] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite theoretical understanding and empirical detection of local adaptation in natural environments, our knowledge of such divergence in fragmented habitats remains limited, especially in the context of microgeographic spatial scales and contemporary time scales. I used a combination of reciprocal transplant and common garden exposure experiments to evaluate potential microgeographic divergence in a pool-breeding amphibian occupying a landscape fragmented by roads. As indicated by reduced rates of survival and increased rates of malformation, I found evidence for maladaptation in road adjacent populations. This response is in direct counterpoint to recently described local adaption by a cohabiting species of amphibian. These results suggest that while divergence might commonly follow habitat modification, the direction of its outcome cannot be generalized even in identical habitats. Further, maladaptive responses can be associated with a more generalized depression effect that transcends the local environment. Alongside recent reports, these results suggest that maladaptive responses may be an emerging consequence of human-induced environmental change. Thus future studies should carefully consider the population unit as a key level for inference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven P Brady
- School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University , New Haven, CT , USA
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Derry AM, Kestrup ÅM, Hendry AP. Possible influences of plasticity and genetic/maternal effects on species coexistence: native Gammarus fasciatusfacing exotic amphipods. Funct Ecol 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alison M. Derry
- Department of Biology; McGill University; 1205 Docteur Penfield Ave.; Montréal; Quebec; H3A 1B1; Canada
| | - Åsa M. Kestrup
- Redpath Museum; McGill University; 859 Sherbrooke St. W.; Montréal; Quebec; H3A 2K6; Canada
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Urban MC, De Meester L, Vellend M, Stoks R, Vanoverbeke J. A crucial step toward realism: responses to climate change from an evolving metacommunity perspective. Evol Appl 2012; 5:154-67. [PMID: 25568038 PMCID: PMC3353337 DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-4571.2011.00208.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2011] [Accepted: 08/22/2011] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
We need to understand joint ecological and evolutionary responses to climate change to predict future threats to biological diversity. The 'evolving metacommunity' framework emphasizes that interactions between ecological and evolutionary mechanisms at both local and regional scales will drive community dynamics during climate change. Theory suggests that ecological and evolutionary dynamics often interact to produce outcomes different from those predicted based on either mechanism alone. We highlight two of these dynamics: (i) species interactions prevent adaptation of nonresident species to new niches and (ii) resident species adapt to changing climates and thereby prevent colonization by nonresident species. The rate of environmental change, level of genetic variation, source-sink structure, and dispersal rates mediate between these potential outcomes. Future models should evaluate multiple species, species interactions other than competition, and multiple traits. Future experiments should manipulate factors such as genetic variation and dispersal to determine their joint effects on responses to climate change. Currently, we know much more about how climates will change across the globe than about how species will respond to these changes despite the profound effects these changes will have on global biological diversity. Integrating evolving metacommunity perspectives into climate change biology should produce more accurate predictions about future changes to species distributions and extinction threats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark C Urban
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Luc De Meester
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Leuven, Belgium
| | - Mark Vellend
- Department of Biology, Universite de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - Robby Stoks
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Leuven, Belgium
| | - Joost Vanoverbeke
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Leuven, Belgium
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17
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Collins S, Gardner A. Integrating physiological, ecological and evolutionary change: a Price equation approach. Ecol Lett 2009; 12:744-57. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01340.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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18
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Esther A, Groeneveld J, Enright NJ, Miller BP, Lamont BB, Perry GL, Schurr FM, Jeltsch F. Assessing the importance of seed immigration on coexistence of plant functional types in a species-rich ecosystem. Ecol Modell 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2008.01.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Abstract
Ongoing adaptation in native populations to anthropogenic change both facilitates and challenges ecologically appropriate and sustainable management. Human disturbance promotes adaptive responses at the genomic, individual and population levels. Traits vary widely in whether adaptation occurs through plasticity or evolution, and these modes interact within and among traits. For example, plasticity in one trait may be adaptive because it permits homeostasis and lessens the intensity of selection in another. Both opportunity and catastrophe generate adaptive responses. Recently evolved adaptations characterize the responses of many native species to biotic invasions. Several well-known examples involve native phytophagous insects colonizing introduced plants. For example, our studies of North American and Australian soapberry bugs on nonindigenous plants demonstrate both diversifying and homogenizing contemporary evolution. Modes of adaptation differ among traits and populations and as a function of the host on which they develop. The genetic architecture of the evolving adaptations involves a substantial degree of nonadditive genetic variation. One important consequence of contemporary adaptation may be an enhanced capacity of native communities to provide adaptive biological control of invasive species. Conservation scientists may manipulate adaptation to achieve conservation goals, but must also decide how deeply they wish to attempt to control the phenotypes and genotypes of other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott P Carroll
- Department of Entomology and Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
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20
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Abstract
Longstanding theory in behavioral ecology predicts that prey should evolve decreased foraging rates under high predation threat. However, an alternative perspective suggests that growth into a size refuge from gape-limited predation and the future benefits of large size can outweigh the initial survival costs of intense foraging. Here, I evaluate the relative contributions of selection from a gape-limited predator (Ambystoma opacum) and spatial location to explanations of variation in foraging, growth, and survival in 10 populations of salamander larvae (Ambystoma maculatum). Salamander larvae from populations naturally exposed to intense A. opacum predation risk foraged more actively under common garden conditions. Higher foraging rates were associated with low survival in populations exposed to free-ranging A. opacum larvae. Results demonstrate that risky foraging activity can evolve in high predation-risk habitats when the dominant predators are gape-limited. This finding invites the further exploration of diverse patterns of prey foraging behavior that depends on natural variation in predator size-selectivity. In particular, prey should adopt riskier behaviors under predation threat than expected under existing risk allocation models if foraging effort directly reduces the duration of risk by growth into a size refuge. Moreover, evidence from this study suggests that foraging has evolved over microgeographic scales despite substantial modification by regional gene flow. This interaction between local selection and spatial location suggests a joint role for adaptation and maladaptation in shaping species interactions across natural landscapes, which is a finding with implications for dynamics at the population, community, and metacommunity levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark C Urban
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 370 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
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