Demography beyond the population

Griffith, Alden B.; Salguero‐Gómez, Roberto; Merow, Cory; McMahon, Sean M.

doi:10.1111/1365-2745.12547

Cited by 56 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 115 publications

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“…; Griffith et al . ). Given this lack of demographic data, it is not surprising that many studies resorted to other ways of inferring large‐scale variation in species’ performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Environmental drivers of demographic variation across the global geographical range of 26 plant species

et al. 2016

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Summary Understanding how rates of reproduction and survival respond to environmental variation across species’ geographical ranges is a key task for both basic and applied ecology. So far, however, environmental drivers of range‐wide demographic variation have only been studied in a few plant species without considering the potentially confounding effects of population density on demographic rates. We present a large‐scale demographic study of 26 shrub species (Proteaceae) from the Cape Floristic Region. All study species have a fire‐dependent life cycle and are serotinous: they exclusively form a canopy seed bank which contains the seeds produced since the last fire. Fire triggers seed release from the canopy so that recruitment is largely limited to a short period after fire. Across the global geographical ranges of the study species, we collected 3454 population‐level records of total fecundity since the last fire (size of individual canopy seed banks), per‐capita recruitment (ratio between post‐fire recruits and pre‐fire adults) and adult fire survival. We used linear regressions to quantify how climate, population density, fire interval and soil nutrients affect demographic variation. A trade‐off between survival and reproduction is evident throughout the geographical ranges of our study species: resprouting species with fire‐protected buds had much higher fire survival than nonsprouters without fire‐protected buds (97% vs. 2%) but they also had substantially lower fecundity and recruitment rates. We found little intraspecific variation in fire survival rates but considerable intraspecific variation in fecundity and recruitment. Range‐wide variation in fecundity was dominated by fire interval whereas recruitment was mostly climate‐driven. Population density and soil nutrients generally had smaller effects but were important for the fecundity and recruitment of several species. Effects of fire interval on fecundity were consistent across species, but other demography–environment relationships showed substantial interspecific differentiation. Synthesis. This study extends demographic research beyond the population to cover the geographical ranges of multiple species. Such large‐scale studies are a necessary first step of a research agenda that aims to understand how range dynamics emerge from first principles of demography, how they are shaped by functional traits and macroevolution and how they will be impacted by global change.

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“…; Griffith et al . ). Given this lack of demographic data, it is not surprising that many studies resorted to other ways of inferring large‐scale variation in species’ performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Environmental drivers of demographic variation across the global geographical range of 26 plant species

et al. 2016

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“…, Griffith et al . ). In the past few decades, it has also become apparent that confounding spatial and temporal variation with each other, or with observation and estimation error, can lead to inappropriate inferences about ecological processes (Clark ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Contrasting effects of spatial heterogeneity and environmental stochasticity on population dynamics of a perennial wildflower

Crone

2016

Journal of Ecology

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Summary Understanding how variation in growth, survival and reproduction affect population dynamics is a fundamental question in ecology. Although the effects of among‐year variation (environmental stochasticity) are well understood, the effects of among‐site variation (spatial heterogeneity) are less clearly defined. I evaluated the effects of spatial and temporal variation on the population dynamics of Pulsatilla patens, pasqueflower, a perennial prairie forb. I conducted a 10‐year demographic monitoring study, and quantified vital rate variation among sites and years using generalized linear models. I incorporated vital rate functions using this variation into integral projection models for stochastic and spatially heterogeneous environments. I also explored the effects of temporal and spatial autocorrelation, by exploring model predictions over the range of possible values for temporal autocorrelation and local seed dispersal. Vital rates varied more among years than among sites. However, environmental stochasticity and spatial heterogeneity had similar magnitude effects on population dynamics. These effects were also qualitatively different: environmental stochasticity reduced population growth rates relative to the average, whereas spatial heterogeneity increased population growth rates. Spatial autocorrelation and negative temporal autocorrelation led to higher population growth rates, although environmental stochasticity still reduced growth rates for all autocorrelation values, and spatial heterogeneity increased growth rates for all autocorrelation values. Some form of autocorrelation would be necessary for model projections to match observed population trends. Synthesis. Spatial heterogeneity is as important as environmental stochasticity for population dynamics, but it is much less often incorporated into population projection models. This study points to a number of interesting avenues for future research into the roles of spatial heterogeneity and spatiotemporal variation for long‐term population dynamics.

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“…Evolutionary demography provides a more fundamental assessment not only of the life history of a species, but can also be extended to explain population and community dynamics (Griffith et al 2016), and even the evolutionary origins of species (Shefferson and SalgueroGómez 2015). Metcalf and Pavard (2007) reasoned that, "Evolution is driven by the propagation of genes, traits….…”

Section: Evolutionary Demography: the Dynamic And Broad Intersection mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To this end, two large-scale databases of plant and animal life history are now available online, the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database and the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database, which include 4246 population projection matrices from 695 plant species (version 4.0.1), and 1625 projection matrices from 345 animal species (version 1.0.0), respectively , 2016. The British Ecological Society has even published a joint special feature dealing with this topic across six of their journals in 2015 and 2016 (Griffith et al 2016). We are now in a revolutionary era in the demographic research of plant and animal populations (including human populations).…”

Section: Evolutionary Demography: the Dynamic And Broad Intersection mentioning

confidence: 99%

The long and winding road of evolutionary demography: preface

Takada

Shefferson

2018

Population Ecology

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Fitness can be calculated using demographic parameters such as survival and fecundity, which are normally used to examine population dynamics in ecology. This concept is at the heart of Darwin's thinking on natural selection. Natural selection optimizes survival and fertility schedules through differential fitness, and these optimal schedules drive changes in population dynamics. Therefore, there must exist an interaction between ecology and evolution. One of the disciplines that focus on the interaction is "Evolutionary demography". It uses age-or stage-specific demographic parameters throughout the whole life history to explore the evolution of life histories. Data throughout the life history of a species is indispensable to study evolutionary demography. To this end, two large-scale databases of plant and animal life history are now available online, the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database and the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database. We are now in a revolutionary era in the demographic research of plant and animal populations (including human populations). Many skills and approaches are needed to answer questions on evolutionary demography including bodies of theory and analytical toolkits. This special issue covers a wide array of subjects: (1) Demographic analysis of populations (including human populations) from the point of view of evolutionary ecology, (2) Meta-analysis using big databases of populations, (3) Eco-evolutionary studies at the population and/or community level and (4) Theoretical studies and the development of mathematical models of life history evolution. 14 collected papers are published to answer a variety of questions using original ideas, new tools, and big data.

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Demography beyond the population

Cited by 56 publications

References 115 publications

Environmental drivers of demographic variation across the global geographical range of 26 plant species

Environmental drivers of demographic variation across the global geographical range of 26 plant species

Contrasting effects of spatial heterogeneity and environmental stochasticity on population dynamics of a perennial wildflower

The long and winding road of evolutionary demography: preface

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