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opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Prey diversity constrains the adaptive potential of predator foraging traits

Predators are generally under selective pressure to get better at foraging, leading to steeper functional responses and stronger predator-prey interactions. Yet strong interactions can de-stabilize food webs, and most interactions across ecological communities are thought to be weak. This conflict between evolutionary and community expectations for the strength of predator-prey interactions represents a fundamental gap in our understanding of how the evolution of foraging plays out in food webs. Here we help to resolve the conflict by showing analytically that the expectation for the evolution of steeper functional responses is relaxed in communities with diverse prey types. We simulate communities with varying prey richness and show that increasing prey richness can indeed constrain the adaptive potential of predator foraging traits, but that at low prey richness predators can evolve to have a stronger interaction with prey that have high net energy yields. Our results also indicate that handling time plays a role in determining whether predators may evolve to have a stronger interaction with abundant prey, suggesting that the evolution of keystone predator modules in food webs is most likely when handling times are negligible. Our results also provide a new mechanism predicting more diffuse interactions in diverse tropical communities relative to more species-poor communities at higher latitudes.

opencc-zeroJul 2022View details →

Potential local adaptation in populations of invasive reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) across an urbanization gradient

Urban stressors represent strong selective gradients that can elicit evolutionary change, especially in non-native species that may harbor substantial within-population variability. To test whether urban stressors drive phenotypic differentiation and influence local adaptation, we compared stress responses of populations of a ubiquitous invader, reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea). Specifically, we quantified responses to salt, copper, and zinc additions by reed canary grass collected from four populations spanning an urbanization gradient (natural, rural, moderate urban and intense urban). We measured ten phenotypic traits and trait plasticities, because reed canary grass is known to be highly plastic and because plasticity may enhance invasion success. We tested the following hypotheses: 1) source populations vary systematically in their stress response, with the intense urban population least sensitive and the natural population most sensitive, and 2) plastic responses are adaptive under stressful conditions. We found clear trait variation among populations, with the greatest divergence in traits and trait plasticities between the natural and intense urban populations. The intense urban population showed stress tolerator characteristics for resource acquisition traits including leaf dry matter content and specific root length. Trait plasticity varied among populations for over half the traits measured, highlighting that plasticity differences were as common as trait differences. Plasticity in root mass ratio and specific root length were adaptive in some contexts, suggesting that natural selection by anthropogenic stressors may have contributed to root trait differences. Reed canary grass populations in highly urbanized wetlands may therefore be evolving enhanced tolerance to urban stressors, suggesting a mechanism by which invasive species may proliferate across urban wetland systems generally.

opencc-zeroOct 2022View details →

Data from: Can extreme climatic events induce shifts in adaptive potential? A conceptual framework and empirical test with Anolis lizards

Multivariate adaptation to climatic shifts may be limited by trait integration that causes genetic variation to be low in the direction of selection. However, strong episodes of selection induced by extreme climatic pressures may facilitate future population-wide responses if selection reduces trait integration and increases adaptive potential (i.e., evolvability). We explain this counter-intuitive framework for extreme climatic events in which directional selection leads to increased evolvability and exemplify its use in a case study. We tested this hypothesis in two populations of the lizard Anolis scriptus that experienced hurricane-induced selection on limb traits. We surveyed populations immediately before and after the hurricane as well as the offspring of post-hurricane survivors, allowing us to estimate both selection and response to selection on key functional traits: forelimb length, hindlimb length, and toepad area. Direct selection was parallel in both islands and strong in several limb traits. Even though overall limb integration did not change after the hurricane, both populations showed a non-significant tendency toward increased evolvability after the hurricane despite the direction of selection not being aligned with the axis of most variance (i.e., body size). The population with comparably lower between-limb integration showed a less constrained response to selection. Hurricane-induced selection, not aligned with the pattern of high trait correlations, likely conflicts with selection occurring during normal ecological conditions that favor functional coordination between limb traits, and would likely need to be very strong and more persistent to elicit a greater change in trait integration and evolvability. Future tests of this hypothesis should use G-matrices in a variety of wild organisms experiencing selection due to extreme climatic events.

Fig. 5 in A non-avian dinosaur with a streamlined body exhibits potential adaptations for swimming

Fig. 5 Life reconstruction of Natovenator polydontus (Artwork by Yusik Choi). The reconstruction shows the proposed swimming behaviour of Natovenator polydontus.

Fig. 4 in A non-avian dinosaur with a streamlined body exhibits potential adaptations for swimming

Fig. 4 Body plan of Natovenator polydontus (MPC-D 102/114, holotype) and dorsal rib morphology of various diving birds and terrestrial taxa. a Dorsal series of Natovenator in ventral view. b Reconstruction of dorsal vertebrae and ribs of Natovenator in left lateral view. c Skeletal reconstruction of Natovenator with missing parts in dark grey. d–i Dorsal rib morphology of Natovenator (d), diving birds (e–i), common ostrich (j), and Shri devi, a likely terrestrial dromaeosaurid from the Baruungoyot Formation (k) in ventral view (not to scale). l Reconstruction of the fourth dorsal vertebra with corresponding ribs in anterior view. d2 second dorsal vertebra, r2 second dorsal rib, r3 third dorsal rib, r4 fourth dorsal rib.

Fig. 3 in A non-avian dinosaur with a streamlined body exhibits potential adaptations for swimming

Fig. 3 Postcranial elements and phylogenetic position of Natovenator polydontus (MPC-D 102/114, holotype). a Anterior cervical vertebrae in left lateral view. b Axis and third cervical vertebra in dorsal view. c Fourth cervical vertebra in dorsal view. d Posterior cervical vertebrae in right lateral view. e Dorsal series in right lateral view. f Anterior caudal vertebrae in right lateral view. g Left forearm elements in medial view and manus in ventral view. h Right foot in ventral view. i Phylogenetic position of Natovenator in Dromaeosauridae. Numbers at each node indicate Bremer support values. at atlas, c3 third cervical vertebra, c4 fourth cervical vertebra, c7 seventh cervical vertebra, c9 ninth cervical vertebra, ch chevron, d7 seventh dorsal vertebra, fem femur, mc I metacarpal I, mt III metatarsal III, mt IV metatarsal IV, poz postzygapophysis, prz prezygapophysis, r radius, r7 seventh dorsal rib, ul ulna, I-2 pedal phalanx I-2.

Fig. 2 in A non-avian dinosaur with a streamlined body exhibits potential adaptations for swimming

Fig. 2 Skull of Natovenator polydontus (MPC-D 102/114, holotype). a–d Skull in left lateral (a), right lateral (b), dorsal (c), and ventral (d) views. e µCTrendered image sliced at the point marked on a, showing a cross-section of the premaxillary and anterior maxillary teeth in dorsal view. f Micro-computed tomography (µCT) rendered image of the occipital region in posterior view. g µCT-rendered image of the pterygoid and quadrate.?bm possible bite mark, d dentary, f frontal, h humerus, l lacrimal, m5 5th maxillary tooth, mx maxilla, na nasal p parietal, p13 13th premaxillary tooth, pl palatine, pm premaxilla, pop paroccipital process, pt pterygoid, q quadrate, rt replacement tooth, sq squamosal, so supraoccipital.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

Data to support: Moving beyond heritability in the search for coral adaptive potential

Global environmental change is happening at unprecedented rates. Coral reefs are among the ecosystems most threatened by global change. For wild populations to persist, they must adapt. Knowledge shortfalls about corals' complex ecological and evolutionary dynamics, however, stymie predictions about potential adaptation to future conditions. Here, we review adaptation through the lens of quantitative genetics. We argue that coral adaptation studies can benefit greatly from "wild" quantitative genetic methods, where traits are studied in wild populations undergoing natural selection, genomic relationship matrices can replace breeding experiments, and analyses can be extended to examine genetic constraints among traits. Individuals with advantageous genotypes for anticipated future conditions can be identified. Finally, genomic genotyping supports simultaneous consideration of how genetic diversity is arrayed across geographic and environmental distances, providing greater context for predictions of phenotypic evolution at a metapopulation scale.

opencc-zeroMay 2023View details →

Semipermeable species boundaries create opportunities for gene flow and adaptive potential

Hybridisation and gene flow can have both deleterious and adaptive consequences for natural populations and species. To better understand the extent of hybridisation in nature and the balance between its beneficial and deleterious outcomes in a changing environment, information on naturally hybridising non-model organisms is needed. This requires the characterisation of the structure and extent of natural hybrid zones. Here we study natural populations of five keystone mound-building wood ant species in the Formica rufa group across Finland. No genomic studies across the species group exist, and the extent of hybridisation and genomic differentiation in sympatry is unknown. Combining genome-wide and morphological data, we demonstrate more extensive hybridisation than was previously detected between all five species in Finland. Specifically, we reveal a mosaic hybrid zone between F. aquilonia, F. rufa and F. polyctena, comprising further generation hybrid populations. Despite this, we find that Formica rufa, F. aquilonia, F. lugubris, and F. pratensis form distinct gene pools in Finland. We also find that hybrids occupy warmer microhabitats than the non-admixed populations of cold-adapted F. aquilonia, and suggest that warm winters and springs, in particular, may benefit hybrids over F. aquilonia, the most abundant F. rufa group species in Finland. In summary, our results indicate that extensive hybridisation may create adaptive potential that could promote wood ant persistence in a changing climate. Additionally, they highlight the potentially significant ecological and evolutionary consequences of extensive mosaic hybrid zones, within which independent hybrid populations face an array of ecological and intrinsic selection pressures.