scholarly journals Perspectives from animal demography on incorporating evolutionary mechanism into plant population dynamics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Paniw
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Plant Population ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Plant Population Dynamics ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Powerful Approach

AbstractWith a growing number of long-term, individual-based data on natural populations available, it has become increasingly evident that environmental change affects populations through complex, simultaneously occurring demographic and evolutionary processes. Analyses of population-level responses to environmental change must therefore integrate demography and evolution into one coherent framework. Integral projection models (IPMs), which can relate genetic and phenotypic traits to demographic and population-level processes, offer a powerful approach for such integration. However, a rather artificial divide exists in how plant and animal population ecologists use IPMs. Here, I argue for the integration of the two sub-disciplines, particularly focusing on how plant ecologists can diversify their toolset to investigate selection pressures and eco-evolutionary dynamics in plant population models. I provide an overview of approaches that have applied IPMs for eco-evolutionary studies and discuss a potential future research agenda for plant population ecologists. Given an impending extinction crisis, a holistic look at the interacting processes mediating population persistence under environmental change is urgently needed.

scholarly journals Evolvability meets biogeography: evolutionary potential decreases at high and low environmental favourability

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1856) ◽  
pp. 20170516 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Martínez-Padilla ◽  
A. Estrada ◽  
R. Early ◽  
F. Garcia-Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Morphological Traits ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Evolutionary Potential ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Environmental Selection

Understanding and forecasting the effects of environmental change on wild populations requires knowledge on a critical question: do populations have the ability to evolve in response to that change? However, our knowledge on how evolution works in wild conditions under different environmental circumstances is extremely limited. We investigated how environmental variation influences the evolutionary potential of phenotypic traits. We used published data to collect or calculate 135 estimates of evolvability of morphological traits of European wild bird populations. We characterized the environmental favourability of each population throughout the species' breeding distribution. Our results suggest that the evolutionary potential of morphological traits decreases as environmental favourability becomes high or low. Strong environmental selection pressures and high intra-specific competition may reduce species' evolutionary potential in low- and high- favourability areas, respectively. This suggests that species may be least able to adapt to new climate conditions at their range margins and at the centre. Our results underscore the need to consider the evolutionary potential of populations when studying the drivers of species distributions, particularly when predicting the effects of environmental change. We discuss the utility of integrating evolutionary dynamics into a biogeographical perspective to understand how environmental variation shapes evolutionary patterns. This approach would also produce more reliable predictions about the effect of environmental change on population persistence and therefore on biodiversity.

Genetic variability in reaction norms in fishes

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah A. Oomen ◽  
Jeffrey A. Hutchings
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variability ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Reaction Norms ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
High Dispersal

The ability of populations to adapt to environmental change and the spatial scale at which this adaptation occurs are fundamentally important issues in evolutionary biology, and ones that may benefit greatly from the study of genetic variability in reaction norms, which represent the plasticity of phenotypic traits across an environmental gradient. Therefore variable reaction norms can reflect genetic differences in the ability of individuals, families, populations, and species to respond to natural and anthropogenic environmental change. Fishes are ideal organisms in which to study plasticity because of their remarkable intraspecific morphological, physiological, behavioural, and life history variation. Here, we review studies demonstrating genetic variability in reaction norms in fishes. Genetic variability in plasticity among full- and half-sib families suggests potential for some populations to develop an adaptive norm of reaction (recalling that plasticity need not be adaptive). Reaction norm variability among populations suggests that adaptive genetic divergence can occur rapidly when selection pressures are strong and that the spatial scale of adaptation is much smaller than previously believed for some species with high dispersal capabilities. These studies demonstrate the potential of using reaction norms to study the evolution of novel phenotypes and the influence of temporal environmental variability and gene flow on the evolution of phenotypic plasticity, which can then be used to predict how populations will respond to directional environmental change. To promote future research into genetic variability in reaction norms, we propose questions that would benefit from such an approach and discuss some important considerations for designing experiments to investigate questions related to genetic variation in plasticity and phenotypic evolution.

scholarly journals Rate, spectrum, and evolutionary dynamics of spontaneous epimutations

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (21) ◽  
pp. 6676-6681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriaan van der Graaf ◽  
René Wardenaar ◽  
Drexel A. Neumann ◽  
Aaron Taudt ◽  
Ruth G. Shaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cytosine Methylation ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Genomic Context ◽  
Term Selection ◽  
Comprehensive Picture ◽  
Dynamic Interplay

Stochastic changes in cytosine methylation are a source of heritable epigenetic and phenotypic diversity in plants. Using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, we derive robust estimates of the rate at which methylation is spontaneously gained (forward epimutation) or lost (backward epimutation) at individual cytosines and construct a comprehensive picture of the epimutation landscape in this species. We demonstrate that the dynamic interplay between forward and backward epimutations is modulated by genomic context and show that subtle contextual differences have profoundly shaped patterns of methylation diversity in A. thaliana natural populations over evolutionary timescales. Theoretical arguments indicate that the epimutation rates reported here are high enough to rapidly uncouple genetic from epigenetic variation, but low enough for new epialleles to sustain long-term selection responses. Our results provide new insights into methylome evolution and its population-level consequences.

Eco-evolutionary Dynamics

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Hendry
Keyword(s):  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Evolutionary Change ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Adaptive Divergence ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Population And Community Dynamics ◽  
Key Aspects

In recent years, scientists have realized that evolution can occur on timescales much shorter than the “long lapse of ages” emphasized by Darwin—in fact, evolutionary change is occurring all around us all the time. This book provides an authoritative and accessible introduction to eco-evolutionary dynamics, a cutting-edge new field that seeks to unify evolution and ecology into a common conceptual framework focusing on rapid and dynamic environmental and evolutionary change. The book covers key aspects of evolution, ecology, and their interactions. Topics range from natural selection, adaptive divergence, ecological speciation, and gene flow to population and community dynamics, ecosystem function, plasticity, and genomics. The book evaluates conceptual and methodological approaches, and draws on empirical data from natural populations—including those in human-disturbed environments—to tackle a number of classic and emerging research questions. It also discusses exciting new directions for future research at the intersection of ecology and evolution. The book reveals how evolution and ecology interact strongly on short timescales to shape the world we see around us.

scholarly journals The ecology and significance of below-ground bud banks in plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 123 (7) ◽  
pp. 1099-1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline P Ott ◽  
Jitka Klimešová ◽  
David C Hartnett
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Life History ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Plant Population ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Bud Bank ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Bud Banks

AbstractBackgroundBelow-ground bud banks have experienced much recent interest due to discoveries that they (1) account for the majority of seasonal population renewal in many communities, (2) are crucial to regeneration following disturbance, and (3) have important consequences for plant population dynamics and plant and ecosystem function across a number of habitats.ScopeThis review presents an overview of the role of bud banks in plant population renewal, examines bud bank life history, summarizes bud bank traits and their potential ecological implications, synthesizes the response of bud banks to disturbance, and highlights gaps to guide future research. The characteristics and life history of buds, including their natality, dormancy, protection and longevity, provide a useful framework for advancing our understanding of bud banks. The fate of buds depends on their age, size, type, location, and biotic and abiotic factors that collectively regulate bud bank dynamics. A bud bank can provide a demographic storage effect stabilizing population dynamics, and also confer resistance to disturbance and invasion. Regeneration capacity following disturbance is determined by interactions among the rates of bud natality, depletion and dormancy (meristem limitation), and the resources available to support the regeneration process. The resulting response of plants and their bud banks to disturbances such as fire, herbivory and anthropogenic sources determines the community’s regenerative capacity.ConclusionsVegetation responses to environmental change may be mediated through changes in bud bank dynamics and phenology. Environmental change that depletes the bud bank or prohibits its formation likely results in a loss of vegetation resilience and plant species diversity. Standardization of bud sampling, examination of bud banks in more ecosystems and their response to environmental variation and disturbance regimes, employment of stage-structured bud bank modelling and evaluation of the cost of bud bank construction and maintenance will benefit this expanding field of research.

The Limits of Ego Depletion

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 292-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Wenzel ◽  
Marina Lind ◽  
Zarah Rowland ◽  
Daniela Zahn ◽  
Thomas Kubiak
Keyword(s):  
Research Agenda ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Interindividual Variability ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Crossover Design ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Depletion Effect ◽  
Within Subjects

Abstract. Evidence on the existence of the ego depletion phenomena as well as the size of the effects and potential moderators and mediators are ambiguous. Building on a crossover design that enables superior statistical power within a single study, we investigated the robustness of the ego depletion effect between and within subjects and moderating and mediating influences of the ego depletion manipulation checks. Our results, based on a sample of 187 participants, demonstrated that (a) the between- and within-subject ego depletion effects only had negligible effect sizes and that there was (b) large interindividual variability that (c) could not be explained by differences in ego depletion manipulation checks. We discuss the implications of these results and outline a future research agenda.

Academic Events: An Empirically Grounded Typology and Their Academic Impact

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Trøst Hansen ◽  
David Budtz Pedersen ◽  
Carmel Foley
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Academic Impact ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Tourism Studies ◽  
Academic Events ◽  
Business Events ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Analytical Frameworks ◽  
Academic Sector

The meetings industry, government bodies, and scholars within tourism studies have identified the need to understand the broader impact of business events. To succeed in this endeavor, we consider it necessary to develop analytical frameworks that are sensitive to the particularities of the analyzed event, sector, and stakeholder group. In this article we focus on the academic sector and offer two connected analyses. First is an empirically grounded typology of academic events. We identify four differentiating dimensions of academic events: size, academic focus, participants, and tradition, and based on these dimensions we develop a typology of academic events that includes: congress, specialty conference, symposium, and practitioners' meeting. Secondly, we outline the academic impact of attending these four types of events. For this purpose, the concept of credibility cycles is used as an analytical framework for examining academic impact. We suggest that academic events should be conceptualized and evaluated as open marketplaces that facilitate conversion of credibility. Data were obtained from interviews with 22 researchers at three Danish universities. The study concludes that there are significant differences between the events in terms of their academic impact. Moreover, the outcome for the individual scholar depends on the investment being made. Finally, the study calls for a future research agenda on beyond tourism benefits based on interdisciplinary collaborations.

Political Consumerism for Sustainable Tourism

2018 ◽  
pp. 348-366
Author(s):  
Machiel Lamers ◽  
Jeroen Nawijn ◽  
Eke Eijgelaar
Keyword(s):  
Nature Conservation ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Sustainable Tourism ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Political Consumerism ◽  
Global Environmental

Over the last decades a substantial and growing societal and academic interest has emerged for the development of sustainable tourism. Scholars have highlighted the contribution of tourism to global environmental change and to local, detrimental social and environmental effects as well as to ways in which tourism contributes to nature conservation. Nevertheless the role of tourist consumers in driving sustainable tourism has remained unconvincing and inconsistent. This chapter reviews the constraints and opportunities of political consumerism for sustainable tourism. The discussion covers stronger pockets and a key weak pocket of political consumerism for sustainable tourism and also highlights inconsistencies in sustainable tourism consumption by drawing on a range of social theory arguments and possible solutions. The chapter concludes with an agenda for future research on this topic.

The Energy Politics of the United States

2020 ◽  
pp. 371-405
Author(s):  
Juliann Emmons Allison ◽  
Srinivas Parinandi
Keyword(s):  
Energy Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Energy Politics ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Subnational Governance

This chapter examines the development and politics of US energy policy, with an emphasis on three themes: the distribution of authority to regulate energy between national (or federal) and subnational governments, the relationship between energy and environmental policy and regulation, and the role of climate action in energy politics. It reviews patterns of energy production and consumption; provides an overview of national energy politics; and reviews literatures on federalism and energy politics and policy, the increasing integration of energy and environmental policies, and the politics of energy and climate action. The chapter concludes with a discussion of a future research agenda that underscores the significance of political polarization, subnational governance, and technological innovation for understanding US energy policy.

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