Evolution on contemporary timescales has recently been recognized as an important driver for ecological change. It is now well established that evolutionary change can affect the interactions between species within a few generations and that ecological interactions may influence the outcome of evolution in return. This tight link between ecology and evolution is of fundamental importance as it can determine the stability of populations and communities, as well as the generation and maintenance of diversity within and among populations. Although these eco-evolutionary dynamics and feedbacks have now been demonstrated many times, we are still far away from understanding how often they occur in nature. We summarize recent findings on eco-evolutionary dynamics, with a focus on consumer-resource interactions, from theory and empirical research. We identify gaps in our knowledge and suggest future research directions to provide a mechanistic understanding and predictive capability for community and ecosystem responses to environmental change

1. Experimental evolution is an important research framework for evolutionary biologists as it allows direct testing of fundamental theories about adaptation and diversity, which often requires the tracking of genotypes or alleles over time. This however requires tools such as genetic markers, distinguishable morphological characters or genotyping, which can be time and labor intensive, and especially if high-throughput processing is necessary. 2. Here we present a novel approach of combining multiplex ddPCR with experimental evolution for tracking genotype frequencies in different experimental populations over time. 3. We found this method to be both precise and accurate for detecting and quantifying targets of interest, especially as compared to traditional PCR methods. 4. The use of multiplex ddPCR to follow frequencies can be used for a wide range of experimental evolution applications

Many bird species are sexually monomorphic and cannot be sexed based on phenotypic traits. Rapid sex determination is often a necessary component of avian studies focusing on behavior, ecology, evolution, and conservation. While PCR‐based methods are the most common technique for molecularly sexing birds in the laboratory, a simpler, faster, and cheaper method has emerged, which can be used in the laboratory, but importantly also in the field. Herein, we used loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for rapid sex determination of blood samples from juvenile European blackcaps, Sylvia atricapilla, sampled in the wild. We designed LAMP primers unique to S. atricapilla based on the sex chromosome‐specific gene, chromo‐helicase‐DNA‐binding protein (CHD), optimized the primers for laboratory and field application, and then used them to test a subset of wild‐caught juvenile blackcaps of unknown gender at the time of capture. Sex determination results were fast and accurate. The advantages of this technique are that it allows researchers to identify the sex of individual birds within hours of sampling and eliminates the need for direct access to a laboratory if implemented at a remote field site. This work adds to the increasing list of available LAMP primers for different bird species and is a new addition within the Passeriformes order.

A species reproductive mode, along with its associated costs and benefits, can play a significant role in its evolution and survival. Facultative sexuality, being able to reproduce both sexually and asexually, has been deemed evolutionary favourable as the benefits of either mode may be fully realized. In fact, many studies have focused on identifying the benefits of sex and/or the forces selecting for increased rates of sex using facultative sexual species. The costs of either mode, however, can also have a profound impact on a population's evolutionary trajectory. Here, we used experimental evolution and fitness assays to investigate the consequences of facultative sexuality in prey adapting to predation. Specifically, we compared the adaptive response of algal prey populations exposed to constant rotifer predation and which had alternating cycles of asexual and sexual reproduction where sexual episodes were either facultative (sexual and asexual progeny simultaneously propagated) or obligate (only sexual progeny propagated). We found that prey populations with facultative sexual episodes reached a lower final relative fitness and suffered a greater trade-off in traits under selection, that is defence and competitive ability, as compared to prey populations with obligate sexual episodes. Our results suggest that costs associated with sexual reproduction (germination time) and asexual reproduction (selection interference) were amplified in the facultative sexual prey populations, leading to a reduction in the net advantage of sexuality. Additionally, we found evidence that the cost of sex was reduced in the obligate sexual prey populations because increased selection for sex was observed via the spontaneous production of sexual cells. These results show that certain costs associated with facultative sexuality can affect an organism's evolutionary trajectory.