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Eco-evolutionary dynamics |
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| Authors: | F Pelletier D Garant AP Hendry |
| Institution: | 1.NERC Centre for Population Biology, Division of Biology, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK;2.Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec J1K 2R1, Canada;3.Redpath Museum and Department of Biology, McGill University, 859 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, Canada |
| Abstract: | 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. |
| Keywords: | eco-evolutionary dynamics natural selection contemporary evolution evolutionary changes population dynamics genotype-by-environment interaction |