The evolutionary ecology of metacommunities

Urban, Mark C.; Leibold, Mathew A.; Amarasekare, Priyanga; Meester, Luc De; Gomulkiewicz, Richard; Hochberg, Michael; Klausmeier, Christopher A.; Loeuille, Nicolas; Mazancourt, Claire de; Norberg, Jon; Pantel, Jelena H.; Strauss, Sharon Y.; Vellend, Mark; Wade, Michael J.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.02.007

Cited by 252 publications

(329 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…However, spatial associations are disrupted due to a wide range in dispersal ability of species (Berg et al 2010). Moreover, differential dispersal of phenotypes with different trait plasticities, may provide local populations with better adapted individuals, and rescue the population from extinction (Urban et al 2008). We are not aware of studies that have shown that dispersive individuals differ in a consistent manner in trait plasticity, but given the importance of dispersal for community assembly and metacommunity dynamics we urgently need empirical data on plasticity in dispersal traits, and how this affects plasticity in competitive traits.…”

Section: Community Niche Models and Phenotypic Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We are not aware of studies that have shown that dispersive individuals differ in a consistent manner in trait plasticity, but given the importance of dispersal for community assembly and metacommunity dynamics we urgently need empirical data on plasticity in dispersal traits, and how this affects plasticity in competitive traits. The integration of plasticity in life history traits with metacommunity ideas is a great challenge (Urban et al 2008).…”

Section: Community Niche Models and Phenotypic Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most evolutionary studies perform experiments with single individuals in isolation, or only in direct interaction with another species, such as studies on co-evolution. Far fewer studies have addressed the effect of community diversity on genetic and phenotypic diversity of single species (Vellend and Geber 2005;Urban et al 2008;Ellers 2009). Evidence suggests that species diversity can act as a source of diversifying selection on single species, through fine-scale competitive interactions among individuals (Vavrek 1998;Callaway and Aschehoug 2000;Fridley et al 2007).…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This review contributes to an emerging field of study, evolutionary community ecology, which explores the possibilities to bridge the gaps between community ecology and evolutionary ecology (i.e. Vellend and Geber 2005;McGill et al 2006;Johnson and Stinchcombe 2007;Emerson and Gillespie 2008;Urban et al 2008). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trait plasticity in species interactions: a driving force of community dynamics

Berg¹,

Ellers²

2010

Evol Ecol

134

121

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Evolutionary community ecology is an emerging field of study that includes evolutionary principles such as individual trait variation and plasticity of traits to provide a more mechanistic insight as to how species diversity is maintained and community processes are shaped across time and space. In this review we explore phenotypic plasticity in functional traits and its consequences at the community level. We argue that resource requirement and resource uptake are plastic traits that can alter fundamental and realised niches of species in the community if environmental conditions change. We conceptually add to niche models by including phenotypic plasticity in traits involved in resource allocation under stress. Two qualitative predictions that we derive are: (1) plasticity in resource requirement induced by availability of resources enlarges the fundamental niche of species and causes a reduction of vacant niches for other species and (2) plasticity in the proportional resource uptake results in expansion of the realized niche, causing a reduction in the possibility for coexistence with other species. We illustrate these predictions with data on the competitive impact of invasive species. Furthermore, we review the quickly increasing number of empirical studies on evolutionary community ecology and demonstrate the impact of phenotypic plasticity on community composition. Among others, we give examples that show that differences in the level of phenotypic plasticity can disrupt species interactions when environmental conditions change, due to effects on realized niches. Finally, we indicate several promising directions for future phenotypic plasticity research in a community context. We need an integrative, trait-based approach that has its roots in community and evolutionary ecology in order to face fast changing environmental conditions such as global warming and urbanization that pose ecological as well as evolutionary challenges.

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Section: Community Niche Models and Phenotypic Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Community Niche Models and Phenotypic Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Trait plasticity in species interactions: a driving force of community dynamics

Berg¹,

Ellers²

2010

Evol Ecol

134

121

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“…At the same time, there is a growing literature showing that heritable phenotypic differences among individuals have substantial importance for how communities and ecosystems function (e.g. Johnson et al 2006;Whitham et al 2006;Urban et al 2008;Palkovacs et al 2009). Finally, extensive reviews of the literature (Hendry & Kinnison 1999;Kinnison & Hendry 2001;Palumbi 2001) leave no doubt that selection driven by strong ecological interactions results in marked adaptive evolutionary change that frequently takes place within a few generations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid contemporary evolution and clonal food web dynamics

Jones

Becks

Ellner

et al. 2009

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

100

126

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Character evolution that affects ecological community interactions often occurs contemporaneously with temporal changes in population size, potentially altering the very nature of those dynamics. Such eco-evolutionary processes may be most readily explored in systems with short generations and simple genetics. Asexual and cyclically parthenogenetic organisms such as microalgae, cladocerans and rotifers, which frequently dominate freshwater plankton communities, meet these requirements. Multiple clonal lines can coexist within each species over extended periods, until either fixation occurs or a sexual phase reshuffles the genetic material. When clones differ in traits affecting interspecific interactions, within-species clonal dynamics can have major effects on the population dynamics. We first consider a simple predator-prey system with two prey genotypes, parametrized with data from a well-studied experimental system, and explore how the extent of differences in defence against predation within the prey population determine dynamic stability versus instability of the system. We then explore how increased potential for evolution affects the community dynamics in a more general community model with multiple predator and multiple prey genotypes. These examples illustrate how microevolutionary 'details' that enhance or limit the potential for heritable phenotypic change can have significant effects on contemporaneous community-level dynamics and the persistence and coexistence of species.

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Metacommunities: Spatial Community Ecology

Gonzalez

2009

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

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Ecology explains the distribution and abundance of species from small to large spatial scales. Explanations based only on processes operating at local scales do not fully account for patterns of diversity at regional scales. Recent decades have seen the unification of local and regional processes as explanations for the maintenance of diversity within the metacommunity concept. A metacommunity is a set of local communities connected by dispersal of multiple potentially interacting species. Metacommunity ecology studies the interactions among species as they occur across a network of patches. The rate and frequency of dispersal mediates the spatial distribution of diversity, abundance and the flux of energy across the metacommunity. The metacommunity concept also provides a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of species loss, and suggests solutions to mitigate these effects.

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The evolutionary ecology of metacommunities

Cited by 252 publications

References 44 publications

Trait plasticity in species interactions: a driving force of community dynamics

Trait plasticity in species interactions: a driving force of community dynamics

Rapid contemporary evolution and clonal food web dynamics

Metacommunities: Spatial Community Ecology

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