Evolutionary responses to global change in species‐rich communities

Abstract

Evolution in nature occurs in the proverbial tangled bank. The species interactions characterizing this tangled bank can be strongly affected by global change and can also influence the fitness and selective effects of a global change on a focal population. As a result, species interactions can influence which traits will promote adaptation and the magnitude or direction of evolutionary responses to the global change. First, we provide a framework describing how species interactions may influence evolutionary responses to global change. Then, we highlight case studies that have explicitly manipulated both a global change and the presence or abundance of interacting species and used either experimental evolution or quantitative genetics approaches to test for the effects of species interactions on evolutionary responses to global change. Although still not frequently considered, we argue that species interactions commonly modulate the effects of global change on the evolution of plant and animal populations. As a result, predicting the evolutionary effects of the multitude of global changes facing natural populations requires both community ecology and evolutionary perspectives.

Environmental variation impacts trait expression and selection in the legume–rhizobium symbiosis

“…The costs and benefits of mutualism often depend on the environment where the interaction is studied (Hoeksema, 2010;Simonsen and Stinchcombe, 2014a), and there is growing evidence that global environmental change is altering the net outcome of mutualism to interacting partners (e.g., Shantz et al, 2016). The environment not only affects the net benefit to each individual, but has the potential to drastically alter the magnitude, direction, or type of selection acting on traits, as well as the expression of genetic variation in those traits (Wood and Brodie, 2016;Hayward et al, 2018;Lau and terHorst, 2019). For example, under more favorable conditions, the strength of selection acting on a trait often decreases (e.g., Garant et al, 2007), while the expression of genetic variance tends to increase (Charmantier and Garant, 2005).…”

Cross-feeding modulates the rate and mechanism of antibiotic resistance evolution in a model microbial community of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica

“…For example, treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics that inhibit both a pathogen and its obligate cross-feeding partners could slow the rate at which pathogens acquire resistance. More broadly the work provides data on the ongoing debate over how mutualisms will respond to our rapidly changing climate [55,56]. Our results suggest that organisms involved in obligate mutualisms, such as plant-pollinator interactions, may be constrained in their ability to adapt to abiotic stress.…”

Anthropogenic disturbance favours generalist over specialist parasites in bird communities: Implications for risk of disease emergence

“…Darwin's “Tangled Bank” (Darwin, 1909) is one of the most common images brought to mind when envisioning ecological systems comprised a complex network of interacting species, and the functional integrity of this tangled bank can be severely compromised by the recent and rapid modifications to global environments (Lau & terHorst, 2020). Parasites form an integral part of all ecological networks, and comprise a large, albeit relatively uncharacterised, portion of global biodiversity (Dobson et al, 2008; Okamura et al, 2018).…”