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Babik W, Dudek K, Marszałek M, Palomar G, Antunes B, Sniegula S. The genomic response to urbanization in the damselfly Ischnura elegans. Evol Appl 2023; 16:1805-1818. [PMID: 38029064 PMCID: PMC10681423 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The complex and rapid environmental changes brought about by urbanization pose significant challenges to organisms. The multifaceted effects of urbanization often make it difficult to define and pinpoint the very nature of adaptive urban phenotypes. In such situations, scanning genomes for regions differentiated between urban and non-urban populations may be an attractive approach. Here, we investigated the genomic signatures of adaptation to urbanization in the damselfly Ischnura elegans sampled from 31 rural and urban localities in three geographic regions: southern and northern Poland, and southern Sweden. Genome-wide variation was assessed using more than 370,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped by ddRADseq. Associations between SNPs and the level of urbanization were tested using two genetic environment association methods: Latent Factors Mixed Models and BayPass. While we found numerous candidate SNPs and a highly significant overlap between candidates identified by the two methods within the geographic regions, there was a distinctive lack of repeatability between the geographic regions both at the level of individual SNPs and of genomic regions. However, we found "synapse organization" at the top of the functional categories enriched among the genes located in the proximity of the candidate urbanization SNPs. Interestingly, the overall significance of "synapse organization" was built up by the accretion of different genes associated with candidate SNPs in different geographic regions. This finding is consistent with the highly polygenic nature of adaptation, where the response may be achieved through a subtle adjustment of allele frequencies in different genes that contribute to adaptive phenotypes. Taken together, our results point to a polygenic adaptive response in the nervous system, specifically implicating genes involved in synapse organization, which mirrors the findings from several genomic and behavioral studies of adaptation to urbanization in other taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- W. Babik
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Environmental SciencesJagiellonian UniversityKrakówPoland
| | - K. Dudek
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Environmental SciencesJagiellonian UniversityKrakówPoland
| | - M. Marszałek
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Environmental SciencesJagiellonian UniversityKrakówPoland
| | - G. Palomar
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Environmental SciencesJagiellonian UniversityKrakówPoland
- Department of Genetics, Physiology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biological SciencesComplutense University of MadridMadridSpain
| | - B. Antunes
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Environmental SciencesJagiellonian UniversityKrakówPoland
| | - S. Sniegula
- Department of Ecosystem Conservation, Institute of Nature ConservationPolish Academy of SciencesKrakówPoland
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2
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Marques P, Zandonà E, Amaral J, Selhorst Y, El-Sabaawi R, Mazzoni R, Castro L, Pilastro A. Using fish to understand how cities affect sexual selection before and after mating. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.928277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Urbanization transforms natural and agricultural areas into built landscapes. Such profound habitat alteration imposes strong pressure on phenotypic trait changes through processes related to natural and/or sexual selection. Evidence of how natural selection drives changes to traits in urban biota is increasing, but little is known about the role of sexual selection. In this study, we assessed the effect of urbanization on the expression and interaction of males' pre-mating traits (body size and color) and a post-mating trait (sperm load). We used a widespread invasive species, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), which is a wellknown model for studying sexual selection, but have never been studied in urban systems for this purpose. We found that urbanization did not affect mean body size or condition, but it resulted in size-dependent reductions in the expression of orange and iridescent colors, as well as sperm load. The orange color was reduced in small urban guppies, while the iridescent colors were reduced in large urban guppies compared to non-urban guppies. The difference in sperm load was only found in large males, with lower sperm load in urban guppies. The relationship between orange color and sperm load was positive in urban guppies but negative in non-urban guppies, while the association between iridescent color and sperm load followed the opposite pattern. Our findings suggest that sexual selection on pre- and post-mating traits is weaker in urban than in non-urban systems and that interactions between such traits are context dependent. These responses can be related to the pollution and altered visual environment of urban systems and provide an opportunity to advance our understanding of the mechanisms determining adaptation in cities.
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3
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Cronin AD, Smit JAH, Muñoz MI, Poirier A, Moran PA, Jerem P, Halfwerk W. A comprehensive overview of the effects of urbanisation on sexual selection and sexual traits. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2022; 97:1325-1345. [PMID: 35262266 PMCID: PMC9541148 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Urbanisation can affect mating opportunities and thereby alter inter- and intra-sexual selection pressures on sexual traits. Biotic and abiotic urban conditions can influence an individual's success in pre- and post-copulatory mating, for example through impacts on mate attraction and mate preference, fertilisation success, resource competition or rival interactions. Divergent sexual selection pressures can lead to differences in behavioural, physiological, morphological or life-history traits between urban and non-urban populations, ultimately driving adaptation and speciation. Most studies on urban sexual selection and mating interactions report differences between urban and non-urban populations or correlations between sexual traits and factors associated with increased urbanisation, such as pollution, food availability and risk of predation and parasitism. Here we review the literature on sexual selection and sexual traits in relation to urbanisation or urban-associated conditions. We provide an extensive list of abiotic and biotic factors that can influence processes involved in mating interactions, such as signal production and transmission, mate choice and mating opportunities. We discuss all relevant data through the lens of two, non-mutually exclusive theories on sexual selection, namely indicator and sensory models. Where possible, we indicate whether these models provide the same or different predictions regarding urban-adapted sexual signals and describe different experimental designs that can be useful for the different models as well as to investigate the drivers of sexual selection. We argue that we lack a good understanding of: (i) the factors driving urban sexual selection; (ii) whether reported changes in traits result in adaptive benefits; and (iii) whether these changes reflect a short-term ecological, or long-term evolutionary response. We highlight that urbanisation provides a unique opportunity to study the process and outcomes of sexual selection, but that this requires a highly integrative approach combining experimental and observational work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew D Cronin
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Judith A H Smit
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Matías I Muñoz
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Armand Poirier
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Peter A Moran
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Paul Jerem
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Wouter Halfwerk
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
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4
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Heinen‐Kay JL, Kay AD, Zuk M. How urbanization affects sexual communication. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:17625-17650. [PMID: 35003629 PMCID: PMC8717295 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Revised: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Urbanization is rapidly altering landscapes worldwide, changing environmental conditions, and creating novel selection pressures for many organisms. Local environmental conditions affect the expression and evolution of sexual signals and mating behaviors; changes in such traits have important evolutionary consequences because of their effect on reproduction. In this review, we synthesize research investigating how sexual communication is affected by the environmental changes associated with urbanization-including pollution from noise, light, and heavy metals, habitat fragmentation, impervious surfaces, urban heat islands, and changes in resources and predation. Urbanization often has negative effects on sexual communication through signal masking, altering condition-dependent signal expression, and weakening female preferences. Though there are documented instances of seemingly adaptive shifts in trait expression, the ultimate impact on fitness is rarely tested. The field of urban evolution is still relatively young, and most work has tested whether differences occur in response to various aspects of urbanization. There is limited information available about whether these responses represent phenotypic plasticity or genetic changes, and the extent to which observed shifts in sexual communication affect reproductive fitness. Our understanding of how sexual selection operates in novel, urbanized environments would be bolstered by more studies that perform common garden studies and reciprocal transplants, and that simultaneously evaluate multiple environmental factors to tease out causal drivers of observed phenotypic shifts. Urbanization provides a unique testing ground for evolutionary biologists to study the interplay between ecology and sexual selection, and we suggest that more researchers take advantage of these natural experiments. Furthermore, understanding how sexual communication and mating systems differ between cities and rural areas can offer insights on how to mitigate negative, and accentuate positive, consequences of urban expansion on the biota, and provide new opportunities to underscore the relevance of evolutionary biology in the Anthropocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justa L. Heinen‐Kay
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & BehaviorUniversity of MinnesotaSt. PaulUSA
| | - Adam D. Kay
- Biology DepartmentUniversity of St. ThomasSt. PaulUSA
| | - Marlene Zuk
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & BehaviorUniversity of MinnesotaSt. PaulUSA
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5
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Abstract
Although research performed in cities will not uncover new evolutionary mechanisms, it could provide unprecedented opportunities to examine the interplay of evolutionary forces in new ways and new avenues to address classic questions. However, while the variation within and among cities affords many opportunities to advance evolutionary biology research, careful alignment between how cities are used and the research questions being asked is necessary to maximize the insights that can be gained. In this review, we develop a framework to help guide alignment between urban evolution research approaches and questions. Using this framework, we highlight what has been accomplished to date in the field of urban evolution and identify several up-and-coming research directions for further expansion. We conclude that urban environments can be used as evolutionary test beds to tackle both new and long-standing questions in evolutionary biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E. Diamond
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA;,
| | - Ryan A. Martin
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA;,
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6
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Martin RA, Chick LD, Garvin ML, Diamond SE. In a nutshell, a reciprocal transplant experiment reveals local adaptation and fitness trade-offs in response to urban evolution in an acorn-dwelling ant. Evolution 2021; 75:876-887. [PMID: 33586171 PMCID: PMC8247984 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 02/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Urban-driven evolution is widely evident, but whether these changes confer fitness benefits and thus represent adaptive urban evolution is less clear. We performed a multiyear field reciprocal transplant experiment of acorn-dwelling ants across urban and rural environments. Fitness responses were consistent with local adaptation: we found a survival advantage of the "home" and "local" treatments compared to "away" and "foreign" treatments. Seasonal bias in survival was consistent with evolutionary patterns of gains and losses in thermal tolerance traits across the urbanization gradient. Rural ants in the urban environment were more vulnerable in the summer, putatively due to low heat tolerance, and urban ants in the rural environment were more vulnerable in winter, putatively due to an evolved loss of cold tolerance. The results for fitness via fecundity were also generally consistent with local adaptation, if somewhat more complex. Urban-origin ants produced more alates in their home versus away environment, and rural-origin ants had a local advantage in the rural environment. Overall, the magnitude of local adaptation was lower for urban ants in the novel urban environment compared with rural ants adapted to the ancestral rural environment, adding further evidence that species might not keep pace with anthropogenic change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan A. Martin
- Department of BiologyCase Western Reserve UniversityClevelandOhio44106
| | - Lacy D. Chick
- Department of BiologyCase Western Reserve UniversityClevelandOhio44106
- Hawken SchoolGates MillsOhio44040
| | - Matthew L. Garvin
- Department of BiologyCase Western Reserve UniversityClevelandOhio44106
- Department of BiologyCentral Michigan UniversityMount PleasantMichigan48859
| | - Sarah E. Diamond
- Department of BiologyCase Western Reserve UniversityClevelandOhio44106
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7
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Dudaniec RY, Carey AR, Svensson EI, Hansson B, Yong CJ, Lancaster LT. Latitudinal clines in sexual selection, sexual size dimorphism and sex-specific genetic dispersal during a poleward range expansion. J Anim Ecol 2021; 91:1104-1118. [PMID: 33759189 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Range expansions can be shaped by sex differences in behaviours and other phenotypic traits affecting dispersal and reproduction. Here, we investigate sex differences in morphology, behaviour and genomic population differentiation along a climate-mediated range expansion in the common bluetail damselfly (Ischnura elegans) in northern Europe. We sampled 65 sites along a 583-km gradient spanning the I. elegans range in Sweden and quantified latitudinal gradients in site relative abundance, sex ratio and sex-specific shifts in body size and mating status (a measure of sexual selection). Using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data for 426 individuals from 25 sites, we further investigated sex-specific landscape and climatic effects on neutral genetic connectivity and migration patterns. We found evidence for sex differences associated with the I. elegans range expansion, namely (a) increased male body size with latitude, but no latitudinal effect on female body size, resulting in reduced sexual dimorphism towards the range limit, (b) a steeper decline in male genetic similarity with increasing geographic distance than in females, (c) male-biased genetic migration propensity and (d) a latitudinal cline in migration distance (increasing migratory distances towards the range margin), which was stronger in males. Cooler mean annual temperatures towards the range limit were associated with increased resistance to gene flow in both sexes. Sex ratios became increasingly male biased towards the range limit, and there was evidence for a changed sexual selection regime shifting from favouring larger males in the south to favouring smaller males in the north. Our findings suggest sex-specific spatial phenotype sorting at the range limit, where larger males disperse more under higher landscape resistance associated with cooler climates. The combination of latitudinal gradients in sex-biased dispersal, increasing male body size and (reduced) sexual size dimorphism should have emergent consequences for sexual selection dynamics and the mating system at the expanding range front. Our study illustrates the importance of considering sex differences in the study of range expansions driven by ongoing climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachael Y Dudaniec
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Alexander R Carey
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Saving our Species Program, New South Wales Government, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Bengt Hansson
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Chuan Ji Yong
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Lesley T Lancaster
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
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8
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Tüzün N, Stoks R. Lower bioenergetic costs but similar immune responsiveness under a heat wave in urban compared to rural damselflies. Evol Appl 2021; 14:24-35. [PMID: 33519954 PMCID: PMC7819556 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Revised: 05/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
There is mounting evidence that the widespread phenotypic changes in response to urbanization may reflect adaptations caused by rapid evolutionary processes driven by urban-related stressors. Compared to increased habitat fragmentation and pollution, adaptations towards another typical urban-related stressor, that is higher and longer lasting very high temperatures (heat waves), are much less studied. Notably, the sensitivities to heat waves of life-history traits and important fitness-related physiological traits such as immune responsiveness and bioenergetic variables (energy availability, energy consumption and their balance) have never been contrasted between urban and rural populations. By conducting a laboratory common-garden experiment, we compared effects of a simulated heat wave on life history (survival and growth rate), immune responsiveness and bioenergetic variables between three urban and three rural populations of the damselfly Coenagrion puella. Because energy-mediated trade-off patterns may only be detected under energetically costly manipulations, all larvae were immune-challenged by simulating ectoparasitism by water mites. As expected, the simulated heat wave caused negative effects on nearly all response variables. The immune responsiveness, on the other hand, increased under the heat wave, consistent with a trade-off pattern between immune function and growth, and this similarly between urban and rural populations. A key finding was that urban larvae suffered less from the simulated heat wave compared to the rural larvae in terms of a lower heat wave-induced depletion in energy availability. This suggests an adaptation of urban populations to better cope with the stronger and more frequent heat waves in cities. Notably, this urbanization-driven evolution in the bioenergetic variables was not apparent in the absence of a heat wave. Given that changes in energy budgets have strong fitness consequences, our findings suggest that the evolved higher ability to cope with heat waves is fundamental for the survival of urban damselfly populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nedim Tüzün
- Evolutionary Stress Ecology and EcotoxicologyUniversity of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Robby Stoks
- Evolutionary Stress Ecology and EcotoxicologyUniversity of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
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9
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Black widows on an urban heat island: extreme heat affects spider development and behaviour from egg to adulthood. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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10
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Diamond SE, Martin RA. Evolution is a double-edged sword, not a silver bullet, to confront global change. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2020; 1469:38-51. [PMID: 32500534 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2019] [Revised: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Although there is considerable optimism surrounding adaptive evolutionary responses to global change, relatively little attention has been paid to maladaptation in this context. In this review, we consider how global change might lead populations to become maladapted. We further consider how populations can evolve to new optima, fail to evolve and therefore remain maladapted, or become further maladapted through trait-driven or eco-evo-driven mechanisms after being displaced from their fitness optima. Our goal is to stimulate thinking about evolution as a "double-edged sword" that comprises both adaptive and maladaptive responses, rather than as a "silver bullet" or a purely adaptive mechanism to combat global change. We conclude by discussing how a better appreciation of environmentally driven maladaptation and maladaptive responses might improve our current understanding of population responses to global change and our ability to forecast future responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E Diamond
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Ryan A Martin
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
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11
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Abstract
Our planet is an increasingly urbanized landscape, with over half of the human population residing in cities. Despite advances in urban ecology, we do not adequately understand how urbanization affects the evolution of organisms, nor how this evolution may affect ecosystems and human health. Here, we review evidence for the effects of urbanization on the evolution of microbes, plants, and animals that inhabit cities. Urbanization affects adaptive and nonadaptive evolutionary processes that shape the genetic diversity within and between populations. Rapid adaptation has facilitated the success of some native species in urban areas, but it has also allowed human pests and disease to spread more rapidly. The nascent field of urban evolution brings together efforts to understand evolution in response to environmental change while developing new hypotheses concerning adaptation to urban infrastructure and human socioeconomic activity. The next generation of research on urban evolution will provide critical insight into the importance of evolution for sustainable interactions between humans and our city environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc T J Johnson
- Department of Biology and Center for Urban Environments, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. .,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jason Munshi-South
- Department of Biological Sciences and Louis Calder Center, Fordham University, Armonk, NY, USA.
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12
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Tüzün N, Stoks R. Pathways to fitness: carry-over effects of late hatching and urbanisation on lifetime mating success. OIKOS 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.05033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nedim Tüzün
- Evolutionary Stress Ecology and Ecotoxicology; Univ. of Leuven; Deberiotstraat 32 BE-3000 Leuven Belgium
| | - Robby Stoks
- Evolutionary Stress Ecology and Ecotoxicology; Univ. of Leuven; Deberiotstraat 32 BE-3000 Leuven Belgium
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13
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Schell CJ. Urban Evolutionary Ecology and the Potential Benefits of Implementing Genomics. J Hered 2018; 109:138-151. [DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esy001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2017] [Accepted: 01/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
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14
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Tüzün N, Op de Beeck L, Brans KI, Janssens L, Stoks R. Microgeographic differentiation in thermal performance curves between rural and urban populations of an aquatic insect. Evol Appl 2017; 10:1067-1075. [PMID: 29151861 PMCID: PMC5680628 DOI: 10.1111/eva.12512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2017] [Accepted: 07/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The rapidly increasing rate of urbanization has a major impact on the ecology and evolution of species. While increased temperatures are a key aspect of urbanization ("urban heat islands"), we have very limited knowledge whether this generates differentiation in thermal responses between rural and urban populations. In a common garden experiment, we compared the thermal performance curves (TPCs) for growth rate and mortality in larvae of the damselfly Coenagrion puella from three urban and three rural populations. TPCs for growth rate shifted vertically, consistent with the faster-slower theoretical model whereby the cold-adapted rural larvae grew faster than the warm-adapted urban larvae across temperatures. In line with costs of rapid growth, rural larvae showed lower survival than urban larvae across temperatures. The relatively lower temperatures hence expected shorter growing seasons in rural populations compared to the populations in the urban heat islands likely impose stronger time constraints to reach a certain developmental stage before winter, thereby selecting for faster growth rates. In addition, higher predation rates at higher temperature may have contributed to the growth rate differences between urban and rural ponds. A faster-slower differentiation in TPCs may be a widespread pattern along the urbanization gradient. The observed microgeographic differentiation in TPCs supports the view that urbanization may drive life-history evolution. Moreover, because of the urban heat island effect, urban environments have the potential to aid in developing predictions on the impact of climate change on rural populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nedim Tüzün
- Evolutionary Stress Ecology and EcotoxicologyUniversity of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Lin Op de Beeck
- Evolutionary Stress Ecology and EcotoxicologyUniversity of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Kristien I. Brans
- Evolutionary Stress Ecology and EcotoxicologyUniversity of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Lizanne Janssens
- Evolutionary Stress Ecology and EcotoxicologyUniversity of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Robby Stoks
- Evolutionary Stress Ecology and EcotoxicologyUniversity of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
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15
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Tüzün N, Op de Beeck L, Stoks R. Sexual selection reinforces a higher flight endurance in urban damselflies. Evol Appl 2017; 10:694-703. [PMID: 28717389 PMCID: PMC5511363 DOI: 10.1111/eva.12485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2017] [Accepted: 04/06/2017] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Urbanization is among the most important and globally rapidly increasing anthropogenic processes and is known to drive rapid evolution. Habitats in urbanized areas typically consist of small, fragmented and isolated patches, which are expected to select for a better locomotor performance, along with its underlying morphological traits. This, in turn, is expected to cause differentiation in selection regimes, as populations with different frequency distributions for a given trait will span different parts of the species' fitness function. Yet, very few studies considered differentiation in phenotypic traits associated with patterns in habitat fragmentation and isolation along urbanization gradients, and none considered differentiation in sexual selection regimes. We investigated differentiation in flight performance and flight-related traits and sexual selection on these traits across replicated urban and rural populations of the scrambling damselfly Coenagrion puella. To disentangle direct and indirect paths going from phenotypic traits over performance to mating success, we applied a path analysis approach. We report for the first time direct evidence for the expected better locomotor performance in urban compared to rural populations. This matches a scenario of spatial sorting, whereby only the individuals with the best locomotor abilities colonize the isolated urban populations. The covariation patterns and causal relationships among the phenotypic traits, performance and mating success strongly depended on the urbanization level. Notably, we detected sexual selection for a higher flight endurance only in urban populations, indicating that the higher flight performance of urban males was reinforced by sexual selection. Taken together, our results provide a unique proof of the interplay between sexual selection and adaptation to human-altered environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nedim Tüzün
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and ConservationUniversity of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Lin Op de Beeck
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and ConservationUniversity of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Robby Stoks
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and ConservationUniversity of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
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