Periodic Reporting for period 3 - EE-Dynamics (Dynamics of eco-evolutionary systems)
Reporting period: 2021-10-01 to 2023-03-31
Evolutionary and ecological processes were long assumed to operate at such different time scales (long versus shorter, respectively) that they were largely independent from one another. However, examples of evolution rapid enough to affect the ecological dynamics of populations, communities and the ecosystem are accumulating. Thus, the central focus of this project is to test the factors that govern the coupling of evolutionary and ecological dynamics. How and why and when does evolution affect ecological processes? The project aims to answer this question by studying how evolutionary changes within species of plant-feeding insects in California affect entire insect communities and the plants that they feed upon.
The project has societal importance for understanding the origin, maintenance and loss of biological diversity. Furthermore, rapid evolution has now been implicated in a number of processes that affect humans, such as biological invasion, the emergence and spread of disease and pathogens, and conservation and resource management.
The core objective of the project is thus to increase understanding of how evolution affects ecological dynamics, including why ecological systems sometimes exhibit stability but other times undergo sudden change and collapse.
The project has societal importance for understanding the origin, maintenance and loss of biological diversity. Furthermore, rapid evolution has now been implicated in a number of processes that affect humans, such as biological invasion, the emergence and spread of disease and pathogens, and conservation and resource management.
The core objective of the project is thus to increase understanding of how evolution affects ecological dynamics, including why ecological systems sometimes exhibit stability but other times undergo sudden change and collapse.
The core work conducted to date, during the first scientific reporting period, represents three major types of work, as proposed in the original project proposal. Details are as follows.
First, we have conducted two spring seasons of field sampling and associated analysis (we missed one season due to the pandemic; details of that are provided elsewhere in the report). The two seasons we did conduct were highly successful. We collected extensive samples and data on insect adaptation, insect abundance, the structure and diversity of insect communities, and plant chemical profiles. These will form the base for testing associations between adaptation within species (evolution) and ecological variables such as the species richness of communities.
Second, we have conducted multiple field experiments. This is important because although observational sampling is required to establish natural patterns of the association between evolution and ecology, such correlative data cannot test causal associations (i.e. driving mechanisms) between evolution and ecology. These experiments have revealed how dynamics changes in both natural selection and dispersal can stabilize ecological communities, generating resilience that prevents large scale collapse and change of ecological communities.
Third, we have conducted genomic data collection and analysis. This work has focused on understanding the genetic evolution of the insect color and color patterns that affect ecological dynamics via their effects on camouflage, and thus the attraction of bird and lizard predators that eat insects. This has revealed that these colors and color patterns often involve large-scale mutations and genome re-arrangements. Work in progress is examining the function and expression of the genes that affect color, to better understand how the evolution of specific adaptations and traits and characteristics of organisms might affect ecological dynamics.
First, we have conducted two spring seasons of field sampling and associated analysis (we missed one season due to the pandemic; details of that are provided elsewhere in the report). The two seasons we did conduct were highly successful. We collected extensive samples and data on insect adaptation, insect abundance, the structure and diversity of insect communities, and plant chemical profiles. These will form the base for testing associations between adaptation within species (evolution) and ecological variables such as the species richness of communities.
Second, we have conducted multiple field experiments. This is important because although observational sampling is required to establish natural patterns of the association between evolution and ecology, such correlative data cannot test causal associations (i.e. driving mechanisms) between evolution and ecology. These experiments have revealed how dynamics changes in both natural selection and dispersal can stabilize ecological communities, generating resilience that prevents large scale collapse and change of ecological communities.
Third, we have conducted genomic data collection and analysis. This work has focused on understanding the genetic evolution of the insect color and color patterns that affect ecological dynamics via their effects on camouflage, and thus the attraction of bird and lizard predators that eat insects. This has revealed that these colors and color patterns often involve large-scale mutations and genome re-arrangements. Work in progress is examining the function and expression of the genes that affect color, to better understand how the evolution of specific adaptations and traits and characteristics of organisms might affect ecological dynamics.
The work conducted to date and planned for the remainder of the project is beyond state-of-the-art in that it examines the coupling of ecological and evolutionary dynamics, rather than treating each in isolation. Beyond the biological implications, the work has the potential to inform the dynamics of complex systems more generally, across the sciences. The core expected results to the end of the project involve the integration of existing and new empirical data with new modeling efforts to test the factors governing the dynamics and predictability of both evolutionary and ecological changes.