Article
Ecology
Jean P. Gibert, Ze-Yi Han, Daniel J. Wieczynski, Samantha Votzke, Andrea Yammine
Summary: This study reveals the link between body size and population density, and their impacts on ecological dynamics through experiments and mathematical models. It shows that changes in body size more strongly influence changes in density, and rapid changes in body size may have a larger effect on population dynamics.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Rana W. El-Sabaawi, Kimberley D. Lemmen, Punidan D. Jeyasingh, Steven A. J. Declerck
Summary: Characterizing intraspecific variation and its ecological consequences is a challenge in eco-evolutionary dynamics. Ecological stoichiometry, using elemental variation, is a powerful framework. However, the emphasis on organismal stoichiometry has limited its application. Studying traits as components of an 'elemental phenotype' and their ecological effects is important. A conceptual framework exploring microevolutionary change in the elemental phenotype can generate hypotheses and enhance our ability to explain eco-evolutionary dynamics.
Article
Biology
C. -E. Schaum, A. Buckling, N. Smirnoff, G. Yvon-Durocher
Summary: This study examines the evolution of trait and tolerance curves in marine ecosystem foundation organisms using a globally distributed phytoplankton species. The results demonstrate that fluctuations in temperature rapidly lead to enhanced trait plasticity and elevated thermal tolerance in the populations. Furthermore, long-term temperature fluctuations result in the formation of two distinct populations, one evolving high trait plasticity and enhanced thermal tolerance, and the other resembling samples evolved under constant warming conditions.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Sebastien Lion, Mike Boots, Akira Sasaki
Summary: In this study, the authors extended an oligomorphic approximation method to class-structured populations, which allows for the joint description of ecological variables and multimodal trait distributions. They also introduced a new approximation method using reproductive values to simplify eco-evolutionary dynamics. The effectiveness of this approach was illustrated using the case of two-habitat migration-selection models.
AMERICAN NATURALIST
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Jennifer B. H. Martiny, Adam C. Martiny, Eoin Brodie, Alexander B. Chase, Alejandra Rodriguez-Verdugo, Kathleen K. Treseder, Steven D. Allison
Summary: Microorganisms are crucial for biogeochemical processes and ecosystem services, but their functioning is highly sensitive to environmental change. Evolutionary processes could play a role in this response, yet few models consider how microbial evolution affects biogeochemical responses. We propose a framework that integrates evolution into microbiome-functioning relationships, considering four interrelated processes (physiological acclimation, demography, dispersal, and evolution). Recent evidence suggests that ecological and evolutionary dynamics occur simultaneously within microbiomes, but the implications for biogeochemistry under environmental change depend on timescales. Over the long term, evolution may play an increasingly important role in microbially driven biogeochemical responses to unprecedented conditions.
Article
Ecology
Sarah Sanderson, Daniel I. Bolnick, Michael T. Kinnison, Rose E. O'Dea, Lucas D. Gorne, Andrew P. Hendry, Kiyoko M. Gotanda
Summary: Most studies focus on changes in population mean trait values and overlook changes in population trait variation. This study comprehensively explores how phenotypic variation is changing in contemporary populations, finding that changes in variation are typically small, but some disturbances or trait types can cause very large changes.
Review
Ecology
Masato Yamamichi, Andrew D. Letten, Sebastian J. Schreiber
Summary: Growing evidence suggests that temporally fluctuating environments play a crucial role in maintaining variation within and between species. However, studies of genetic variation within populations have been primarily conducted by evolutionary biologists, while population and community ecologists have focused more on species diversity. This article reviews theoretical and empirical studies in population genetics and community ecology, exploring the connection between the "temporal storage effect" and diversity maintenance. By comparing and synthesizing ecological and evolutionary approaches, the authors aim to enhance our understanding of diversity maintenance in nature.
Article
Ecology
Masato Yamamichi, Theo Gibbs, Jonathan M. Levine
Summary: This study suggests that rapid evolution occurring concurrently with competition may enable species coexistence. The authors extend the interpretation of modern coexistence theory metrics to systems where competitors evolve, defining eco-evolutionary versions of these metrics. They find that the eco-evolutionary niche and competitive ability differences are a combination of ecological and evolutionary processes, accurately predicting the potential for stable coexistence in eco-evolutionary dynamics.
Article
Ecology
Maria Kalambokidis, Michael Travisano
Summary: The origin of life is one of the greatest mysteries in science, and understanding the factors that influence evolutionary outcomes is crucial for exploring its emergence. This review discusses how ecological and evolutionary constraints shape the evolution of biological innovation, proposing an eco-evolutionary approach that explores the various ways an evolvable system can emerge and gain complexity.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sourav Roy, Sayantan Nag Chowdhury, Srilena Kundu, Gourab Kumar Sar, Jeet Banerjee, Biswambhar Rakshit, Prakash Chandra Mali, Matjaz Perc, Dibakar Ghosh
Summary: In this study, we use the prisoner's dilemma game to investigate the intricate interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes. We consider delays and explore how these delays can affect prosocial behavior. Analytical calculations and numerical simulations show that delays can lead to oscillations, and by incorporating altruistic free space and punishment as factors, we examine their impact on population and community dynamics. Depending on parameter values and initial strategies, our eco-evolutionary model can exhibit cyclic dominance or chaotic behavior, emphasizing the importance of complex dynamics for the management and conservation of ecological communities. This research contributes to a broader understanding of group decision-making and moral behavior in multidimensional social systems.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Carly D. Ziter
Summary: Despite urban stressors on multiple species, little is known about the ecological consequences of urban evolution. This study investigated the evolutionary responses of predator-prey interactions in urban environments using damselfly nymphs and water fleas. The results revealed a cryptic eco-evolutionary feedback, where urban damselflies showed higher predation rates when paired with rural prey, but this advantage disappeared when urban predators encountered urban prey. The findings highlight the ecological consequences of mismatches in evolutionary responses and emphasize the importance of a multi-species approach in eco-evolutionary dynamics research.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
Jean-Marc Ginoux
Summary: This paper classifies methods for approximating slow-fast dynamical systems equations into two categories: singular perturbation-based methods and curvature-based methods. It also proves the equivalence between methods within the same category and between the two categories, and analyzes and compares each method to demonstrate the efficiency of the Flow Curvature Method.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIFURCATION AND CHAOS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Sebastien Lion, Akira Sasaki, Mike Boots
Summary: Understanding the interaction between ecological processes and evolutionary dynamics of quantitative traits in natural systems is a challenge. Two main theoretical frameworks, adaptive dynamics and quantitative genetics, have strengths and limitations and are used by different research communities. To make progress, a novel theoretical framework called 'oligomorphic dynamics' is proposed to bridge the gap between these approaches and strengthen the link to empirical data. Oligomorphic dynamics considers environmental feedback and can analyze eco-evolutionary dynamics, including multimodal trait distributions and non-normal or skewed distributions encountered in nature, facilitating a tighter integration between theory and data.
Article
Ecology
Mark Davidson Jewell, Graham Bell
Summary: When the environment changes, the entire community of organisms may undergo modifications through physiological processes, evolutionary processes, or shifts in species composition. However, how these sources of change combine to drive community trait dynamics is not well understood.
Article
Engineering, Mechanical
Subhashis Das, Sanat Kumar Mahato, Argha Mondal, Eva Kaslik
Summary: This article introduces a three-dimensional fractional-order slow-fast prey-predator model to explore the impact of pest-control strategy on integrated pest management. The dynamics of the prey-predator system and its qualitative properties are analyzed using a fractional-order model. The stability and the occurrence of Hopf bifurcations in the model are found to be influenced by the fractional-order exponent.
NONLINEAR DYNAMICS
(2023)