The ecogenetic link between demography and evolution: can we bridge the gap between theory and data?
- 27 July 2007
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Ecology Letters
- Vol. 10 (9), 773-782
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01086.x
Abstract
Calls to understand the links between ecology and evolution have been common for decades. Population dynamics, i.e. the demographic changes in populations, arise from life history decisions of individuals and thus are a product of selection, and selection, on the contrary, can be modified by such dynamical properties of the population as density and stability. It follows that generating predictions and testing them correctly requires considering this ecogenetic feedback loop whenever traits have demographic consequences, mediated via density dependence (or frequency dependence). This is not an easy challenge, and arguably theory has advanced at a greater pace than empirical research. However, theory would benefit from more interaction between related fields, as is evident in the many near-synonymous names that the ecogenetic loop has attracted. We also list encouraging examples where empiricists have shown feasible ways of addressing the question, ranging from advanced data analysis to experiments and comparative analyses of phylogenetic data.Keywords
This publication has 106 references indexed in Scilit:
- Cooperation Peaks at Intermediate DisturbanceCurrent Biology, 2007
- Molecular-Level Variation Affects Population Growth in a Butterfly MetapopulationPLoS Biology, 2006
- Complex population dynamics and complex causation: devils, details and demographyProceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 2006
- DETECTION OF DENSITY DEPENDENCE REQUIRES DENSITY MANIPULATIONS AND CALCULATION OF λEcology, 2006
- Coevolution of slow–fast populations: evolutionary sliding, evolutionary pseudo-equilibria and complex Red Queen dynamicsProceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 2006
- Lonely hearts or sex in the city? Density-dependent effects in mating systemsPhilosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 2006
- The evolution of population stability as a by-product of life-history evolutionProceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 2003
- Rapid evolution drives ecological dynamics in a predator–prey systemNature, 2003
- Colicin Diversity: a Result of Eco-evolutionary DynamicsJournal of Theoretical Biology, 1999
- Owner-Intruder Conflict, Grafen Effect and Self-assessment. The Bourgeois Principle Re-ExaminedJournal of Theoretical Biology, 1995