A cascade of evolutionary change alters consumer-resource dynamics and ecosystem function

It is becoming increasingly clear that intraspecific evolutionary divergence influences the properties of populations, communities and ecosystems. The different ecological impacts of phenotypes and genotypes may alter selection on many species and promote a cascade of ecological and evolutionary change throughout the food web. Theory predicts that evolutionary interactions across trophic levels may contribute to hypothesized feedbacks between ecology and evolution. However, the importance of 'cascading evolutionary change' in a natural setting is unknown. In lakes in Connecticut, USA, variation in migratory behaviour and feeding morphology of a fish predator, the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), drives life-history evolution in a species of zooplankton prey (Daphnia ambigua). Here we evaluated the reciprocal impacts of Daphnia evolution on ecological processes in laboratory mesocosms. We show that life-history evolution in Daphnia facilitates divergence in rates of population growth, which in turn significantly alters consumer-resource dynamics and ecosystem function. These experimental results parallel trends observed in lakes. Such results argue that a cascade of evolutionary change, which has occurred over contemporary timescales, alters community and ecosystem processes.     

Bacterial adaptation to sublethal antibiotic gradients can change the ecological properties of multitrophic microbial communities

Antibiotics leak constantly into environments due to widespread use in agriculture and human therapy. Although sublethal concentrations are well known to select for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, little is known about how bacterial evolution cascades through food webs, having indirect effect on species not directly affected by antibiotics (e.g. via population dynamics or pleiotropic effects). Here, we used an experimental evolution approach to test how temporal patterns of antibiotic stress, as well as migration within metapopulations, affect the evolution and ecology of microcosms containing one prey bacterium, one phage and two protist predators. We found that environmental variability, autocorrelation and migration had only subtle effects for population and evolutionary dynamics. However, unexpectedly, bacteria evolved greatest fitness increases to both antibiotics and enemies when the sublethal levels of antibiotics were highest, indicating positive pleiotropy. Crucially, bacterial adaptation cascaded through the food web leading to reduced predator-to-prey abundance ratio, lowered predator community diversity and increased instability of populations. Our results show that the presence of natural enemies can modify and even reverse the effects of antibiotics on bacteria, and that antibiotic selection can change the ecological properties of multitrophic microbial communities by having indirect effects on species not directly affected by antibiotics.     

Eco-evolutionary dynamics: disentangling phenotypic,environmental and population fluctuations

Decomposing variation in population growth into contributions from both ecological and evolutionary processes is of fundamental concern, particularly in a world characterized by rapid responses to anthropogenic threats. Although the impact of ecological change on evolutionary response has long been acknowledged, the converse has predominantly been neglected, especially empirically. By applying a recently published conceptual framework, we assess and contrast the relative importance of phenotypic and environmental variability on annual population growth in five ungulate populations. In four of the five populations, the contribution of phenotypic variability was greater than the contribution of environmental variability, although not significantly so. The similarity in the contributions of environment and phenotype suggests that neither is worthy of neglect. Population growth is a consequence of multiple processes, which strengthens arguments advocating integrated approaches to assess how populations respond to their environments.     

PREY ADAPTATION AS A CAUSE OF PREDATOR-PREY CYCLES

We analyze simple models of predator-prey systems in which there is adaptive change in a trait of the prey that determines the rate at which it is captured by searching predators. Two models of adaptive change are explored: (1) change within a single reproducing prey population that has genetic variation for vulnerability to capture by the predator; and (2) direct competition between two independently reproducing prey populations that differ in their vulnerability. When an individual predator's consumption increases at a decreasing rate with prey availability, prey adaptation via either of these mechanisms may produce sustained cycles in both species' population densities and in the prey's mean trait value. Sufficiently rapid adaptive change (e.g., behavioral adaptation or evolution of traits with a large additive genetic variance), or sufficiently low predator birth and death rates will produce sustained cycles or chaos, even when the predator-prey dynamics with fixed prey capture rates would have been stable. Adaptive dynamics can also stabilize a system that would exhibit limit cycles if traits were fixed at their equilibrium values. When evolution fails to stabilize inherently unstable population interactions, selection decreases the prey's escape ability, which further destabilizes population dynamics. When the predator has a linear functional response, evolution of prey vulnerability always promotes stability. The relevance of these results to observed predator-prey cycles is discussed.     

Eco-evolutionary dynamics

Evolutionary ecologists and population biologists have recently considered that ecological and evolutionary changes are intimately linked and can occur on the same time-scale. Recent theoretical developments have shown how the feedback between ecological and evolutionary dynamics can be linked, and there are now empirical demonstrations showing that ecological change can lead to rapid evolutionary change. We also have evidence that microevolutionary change can leave an ecological signature. We are at a stage where the integration of ecology and evolution is a necessary step towards major advances in our understanding of the processes that shape and maintain biodiversity. This special feature about ‘eco-evolutionary dynamics’ brings together biologists from empirical and theoretical backgrounds to bridge the gap between ecology and evolution and provide a series of contributions aimed at quantifying the interactions between these fundamental processes.     

Eco-evolutionary vs. habitat contributions to invasion in salmon: experimental evaluation in the wild

Although trait evolution over contemporary timescales is well documented, its influence on ecological dynamics in the wild has received much less attention particularly compared to traditional ecological and environmental factors. For example, evolution over ecologically relevant timescales is expected in populations that colonize new habitats, where it should theoretically enhance fitness, associated vital rates of survival and reproduction, and population growth potential. Nonetheless, success of exotic species is much more commonly attributed to ecological aspects of habitat quality and 'escape from enemies' in the invaded range. Here, we consider contemporary evolution of vital rates in introduced Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) that quickly colonized New Zealand and diverged over c. 26 generations. By using experimental translocations, we partitioned the roles of evolution and habitat quality in modifying geographical patterns of vital rates. Variation in habitat quality within the new range had the greatest influence on broad geographical patterns of vital rates, but locally adapted salmon still exhibited more than double the vital rate performance, and hence fitness, of nonlocal counterparts. The scope of this fitness evolution far exceeds the scale of divergence in trait values for these populations, or even the expected fitness effects of particular traits. These results suggest that contemporary evolution can be an important part of the eco-evolutionary dynamics of invasions and highlight the need for studies of the emergent fitness and ecological consequences of such evolution, rather than just changes in trait values.     

越南斧瓢虫对烟粉虱的捕食作用

【目的】烟粉虱Bemisia tabaci(Gennadius)是一种外来入侵性的重大农业害虫,越南斧瓢虫Axinoscymnus apioides Kuznetsov&Ren是其重要的捕食性天敌之一,本文系统研究了越南斧瓢虫对烟粉虱的捕食作用。【方法】在温度误差为±1℃,相对湿度为75%,光照周期为L︰D=14︰10条件下,测定瓢虫成虫对烟粉虱各虫态的功能反应和不同温度下对烟粉虱4龄若虫的功能反应以及测定瓢虫成虫取食烟粉虱4龄若虫个体间的干扰反应。【结果】结果表明,越南斧瓢虫对烟粉虱的功能反应呈HollingⅡ型,随着猎物龄期的增加,越南斧瓢虫成虫的寻找效率(a)逐渐降低,处置时间(Th)基本依次延长。温度对瓢虫的捕食效应影响显著,试验所设温度为15,20,25,30,35℃,越南斧瓢虫成虫的寻找效率(a)分别为0.3226,0.4496,0.5868,0.5788和0.6235,处置时间(Th)分别为0.2348,0.1451,0.1039,0.0904和0.0976,均与温度(T)则呈二次曲线关系。越南斧瓢虫对烟粉虱4龄若虫的捕食作用率(E)在捕食者密度较低(在1~5头)时,捕食作用率下降较快,而在捕食者>6时,其对捕食作用率的影响效果减小。寻找系数为0.0607,干扰系数为0.5569。【结论】随着猎物龄期的增加,越南斧瓢虫成虫的寻找效率降低,处置时间延长;越南斧瓢虫成虫对烟粉虱4龄若虫的寻找效率随着温度的升高而提高,而在更高的温度条件下,其寻找效率略有下降。瓢虫对烟粉虱的处置时间则随着温度的升高而不断缩短;越南斧瓢虫成虫自身密度对其捕食作用产生干扰反应,捕食作用率随着捕食者密度的增加而降低。     

异色瓢虫对设施栽培桃树桃蚜的捕食功能反应研究

为明确异色瓢虫对设施栽培桃树上桃蚜的自然控制力,在室内研究了异色瓢虫成虫自身密度和不同蚜虫密度对捕食功能的影响。结果表明,异色瓢虫对桃蚜的捕食功能反应符合Holling-Ⅱ圆盘方程,其拟合模型为Na=0.898Nt/(1+0.0045Nt),每头异色瓢虫在1 d内对桃蚜的最大捕食量为200头,捕食每头桃蚜的处置时间Th=0.005d。异色瓢虫自身密度对桃蚜捕食作用有一定制约,拟合Watt竞争模型方程为A=86.441P-0.6592。     

Functional response and predation of Nabis kinbergii （Hemiptera. Nabidae） to Plutella xylostella （Lepidoptera. Plutellidae）

The functional response of adult Nabis kinbergii （Hemiptera： Nabidae） to density of diamondback moth Plutella xylostella （Lepidoptera： Plutellidae） was investigated under laboratory conditions. Holling＇ s （1959） type Ⅱ model was found to be a good fit for the observed functional response of this predator. The numbers of P. xylostella consumed increased with temperature from 15℃ to 35℃. The maximum number of prey killed was observed at 35℃, with average of 10.3 and 8.3 forth instar larvae consumed by adult females and males of N. kinbergii, respectively. The predation of N. kinbergii on P. xylostella increased with successive immature stages. The number of prey consumed by predators decreased as the body size of prey increased. An average of 131 eggs or 95 larvae of P. xylostella were killed by a single of female adult in 24 hours at 24＂C. The pupae of P. xylostella were observed to be eaten by fifth instar nymphs and adults N. kinbergiiin numbers of less than an average of 0.7 pupae per predator in 24 hours at 24＂C. Predation preference by N. kinbergii was also investigated. The number of P. xylostella and Myzus persicae killed by female N. kinbergii was not significantly different, but males killed significantly more P. xylostella than M. persicae. Both eggs and larvae of P. xylosteUa were killed in significantly greater number than those of Pieris rapae in the same feeding arena.