Article
Ecology
Edeline Eric, Loeuille Nicolas
Summary: Harvesting can lead to body downsizing and population declines, which are not only direct consequences of harvest selection but also result from changes in ecological features, indirectly reshaping natural selection through eco-evolutionary feedback loops.
Review
Genetics & Heredity
Jianzhi Zhang
Summary: Genomics, a interdisciplinary field of biology, has revolutionized various subdisciplines of life sciences by providing large amount of data, introducing high-throughput technologies, and offering new approaches to biology. In this review, the author describes what they have learned from genomics, mainly focusing on variation, interaction, and selection, which are central topics in evolutionary biology. The author expects that the most important contributions of genomics to evolutionary biology in the future will include providing genome sequences of almost all known species on Earth, facilitating high-throughput phenotyping of natural variants and mutants, and assisting in the determination of causality in evolutionary processes using experimental evolution.
GENOMICS PROTEOMICS & BIOINFORMATICS
(2023)
Article
Biology
Vanessa Ress, Arne Traulsen, Yuriy Pichugin
Summary: The evolution of multicellular life cycles is a central process in the emergence of multicellularity, and the interactions between multicellular groups play an important role in the evolution of life cycles. The outcome of evolution could be coexistence between multiple life cycles.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Christopher H. Lean, W. Ford Doolittle, Joseph P. Bielawski
Summary: Understanding community-level selection requires considering both community-level inheritance and community-level heritability, which are often conflated. Treating communities as interactors provides a more plausible and empirically supportable model for the role of ecological communities in evolution.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
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
Biochemical Research Methods
Ziyun Guang, Matthew Smith-Erb, Layla Oesper
Summary: In this study, a method for merging multiple tumor trees into a consensus tree was proposed, using the Weighted m-Tumor Tree Consensus Problem (W-m-TTCP) to infer tumor evolutionary histories. An algorithm called TuELiP, based on integer linear programming, was introduced to solve this problem and was shown to outperform existing methods in correctly identifying tumor trees. The importance of incorporating weights was demonstrated, with significant impacts on the consensus tree identified in a Triple-Negative Breast Cancer dataset.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Laura S. Zamorano, Zachariah Gompert, Emanuel A. Fronhofer, Jeffrey L. Feder, Patrik Nosil
Summary: There is increasing evidence that evolution and ecology can operate on the same time-scale, with evolution influencing ecological processes and vice versa. However, direct empirical evidence for eco-evolutionary feedback is rare. This study shows in the wild that a plant-feeding arthropod community exhibits a negative feedback loop between adaptation in cryptic coloration, bird predation, and arthropod abundance, suggesting that eco-evolutionary feedbacks can stabilize complex systems.
Editorial Material
Ecology
Lynn Govaert, Florian Altermatt, Luc De Meester, Mathew A. Leibold, Mark A. McPeek, Jelena H. Pantel, Mark C. Urban
Summary: Recent studies show that ecological and evolutionary processes can often interact; however, our understanding of evolution in multi-species communities is still lacking; focusing on interactions between evolutionary biology and community ecology processes can explore eco-evolutionary dynamics in multi-species communities.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Joost Samir Mansour, Konstantinos Anestis
Summary: Mixotrophy, characterized by the combination of phototrophy and phagotrophy within a single organism, is a significant trophic mode in aquatic ecosystems. The establishment of permanent plastids in mixoplankton is largely due to gene transfer from prey and/or endosymbionts, with active transcription of plastid-related genes helping to maintain and extend retention of kleptoplasts. Response of mixoplankton to environmental changes like temperature, nutrient availability, and prey abundance is variable and species-specific.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
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.
Review
Microbiology
Bryden Fields, Ville-Petri Friman
Summary: Microbial communities play a crucial role in plant health and productivity, and the rapid evolution of microbes in the rhizosphere has significant impacts on the ecological dynamics within and between plant generations. Understanding how evolution shapes the plant-microbe ecosystem functioning and recognizing the importance of intraspecies diversity are essential in harnessing the benefits of soil microbes for sustainable agriculture.
CURRENT OPINION IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andrew P. Hendry
Summary: Ecological change and evolution have a feedback mechanism where ecological change influences evolution, and in turn, evolution affects ecological change. A study using Timema stick insects demonstrates the existence of such feedbacks in nature, showing that they can occur rapidly, have a strong impact, and contribute to stability.
Article
Ecology
Masato Yamamichi, Stephen P. Ellner, Nelson G. Hairston Jr
Summary: Studies on eco-evolutionary dynamics have integrated evolution with ecological processes and interspecific interactions, but often neglected various evolutionary processes. This paper argues for the consideration of drift, mutation, disruptive selection, and evolution driven by relative fitness differences to better understand nature's eco-evolutionary dynamics.
Article
Plant Sciences
Zuzana Munzbergova, Vigdis Vandvik, Veroslava Hadincova
Summary: This study investigates the adaptability of plants to climate change by combining field experiments and growth chamber assays, revealing that plant adaptation to novel climates is influenced by the interaction between plant traits and climate change, with key traits including plasticity in aboveground biomass and osmotic potential.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
David Enard
Summary: DNA analysis of humans from the Middle Ages reveals that survivors of the bubonic plague experienced rapid natural selection, potentially leading to an increased risk of autoimmune diseases in their descendants.
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Joseph Travis, David N. Reznick
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Cynthia Dick, Jeff Arendt, David N. Reznick, Cheryl Y. Hayashi
EVOLUTION & DEVELOPMENT
(2018)
Article
Ecology
David N. Reznick, Jonathan Losos, Joseph Travis
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Simon P. Hart, Martin M. Turcotte, Jonathan M. Levine
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2019)
Article
Ecology
Marjolein Bruijning, Eelke Jongejans, Martin M. Turcotte
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Entomology
Swapna K. Subramanian, Martin M. Turcotte
ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2020)
Review
Ecology
Rachel M. Germain, Simon P. Hart, Martin M. Turcotte, Sarah P. Otto, Jawad Sakarchi, Jonathan Rolland, Takuji Usui, Amy L. Angert, Dolph Schluter, Ronald D. Bassar, Mia T. Waters, Francisco Henao-Diaz, Adam M. Siepielski
Summary: Speciation often begins but rarely completes, possibly due to the failure of nascent lineages to persist. Key gaps between ecological and evolutionary theories exist, and bridging these gaps can help clarify the success or failure of speciation. The application of ecological coexistence theory can aid in understanding the initiation, progression, and completion of speciation, and contribute to unifying the origin and maintenance of species diversity across the tree of life.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Jiaqi Tan, Julia E. Kerstetter, Martin M. Turcotte
Summary: The study demonstrates the eco-evolutionary dynamics between the microbiome and a constituent member in influencing the fitness of the host plant. The presence of microbiome promotes rapid evolution of specific member, leading to changes in microbiome species composition and impacting host fitness.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sergio E. Ramos, Lacey D. Rzodkiewicz, Martin M. Turcotte, Tia-Lynn Ashman
Summary: There is substantial variation in plant traits' response to herbicide drift, with floral traits being more responsive and more likely to recover compared to vegetative traits, which are more affected at higher drift concentrations. Lifetime traits such as flowering onset and reproductive fitness are negatively affected in a concentration-dependent manner, while biomass and total flower production remain unaffected. Understanding and accounting for this variation is essential to fully grasp the impact of herbicide drift on plants and the ecological interactions these traits mediate.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Cyrill Hess, Jonathan M. Levine, Martin M. Turcotte, Simon P. Hart
Summary: This article investigates the ecological explanations for species coexistence and the impact of trait changes on competitive outcomes. The study finds that phenotypic plasticity can promote species coexistence in a way that is not captured by traditional measures of niche differentiation.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Elizabeth N. Rudzki, Sara E. Kuebbing, David R. Clark, Burhan Gharaibeh, Mary J. Janecka, Rachael Kramp, Kevin D. Kohl, Talia Mastalski, Michel E. B. Ohmer, Martin M. Turcotte, Corinne L. Richards-Zawacki
Summary: Field research is crucial for career development in various academic fields. However, conducting research in field settings poses health and safety risks, with marginalized researchers facing greater risks. Failure to actively mitigate these additional risks can hinder qualified investigators from participating in field research and undermine efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of science.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Thomas J. Anneberg, Elizabeth M. O'Neill, Tia-Lynn Ashman, Martin M. Turcotte
Summary: Ecological theory predicts that early generation polyploids should quickly go extinct due to rarity and competition, but polyploids persist globally. This paradox has been theoretically addressed, but the direct effects of polyploidy at the population level remain largely untested.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tomos Potter, Jeff Arendt, Ronald D. Bassar, Beth Watson, Paul Bentzen, Joseph Travis, David N. Reznick
Summary: There is no consensus on why females prefer mates with rare phenotypes, but sexual selection can maintain genetic variation. We examined the fitness consequences of female preference for rare male color patterns in Trinidadian guppies over 10 generations and found that rare males have a reproductive advantage and mating with them gives females an indirect fitness advantage through the success of their sons. However, the fitness benefit disappears for grandsons as the rare phenotype becomes common. Contrary to prevailing theory, our study shows that female preference can be maintained through indirect selection.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Thomas J. Anneberg, Martin M. Turcotte, Tia-Lynn Ashman
Summary: Research shows that whole-genome duplication directly affects the plant microbiome, and this effect is dependent on the genetic ancestry of the polyploid and can be generalized across many environmental contexts.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Jay K. Goldberg, Curtis M. Lively, Sonya R. Sternlieb, Genevieve Pintel, J. Daniel Hare, Michael B. Morrissey, Lynda F. Delph