1
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Mullon C, Peña J, Lehmann L. The evolution of environmentally mediated social interactions and posthumous spite under isolation by distance. PLoS Comput Biol 2024; 20:e1012071. [PMID: 38814981 PMCID: PMC11139344 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Many social interactions happen indirectly via modifications of the environment, e.g. through the secretion of functional compounds or the depletion of renewable resources. Here, we derive the selection gradient on a quantitative trait affecting dynamical environmental variables that feed back on reproduction and survival in a finite patch-structured population subject to isolation by distance. Our analysis shows that the selection gradient depends on how a focal individual influences the fitness of all future individuals in the population through modifications of the environmental variables they experience, weighted by the neutral relatedness between recipients and the focal. The evolutionarily relevant trait-driven environmental modifications are formalized as the extended phenotypic effects of an individual, quantifying how a trait change in an individual in the present affects the environmental variables in all patches at all future times. When the trait affects reproduction and survival through a payoff function, the selection gradient can be expressed in terms of extended phenotypic effects weighted by scaled relatedness. We show how to compute extended phenotypic effects, relatedness, and scaled relatedness using Fourier analysis, which allow us to investigate a broad class of environmentally mediated social interactions in a tractable way. We use our approach to study the evolution of a trait controlling the costly production of some lasting commons (e.g. a common-pool resource or a toxic compound) that can diffuse in space and persist in time. We show that indiscriminate posthumous spite readily evolves in this scenario. More generally, whether selection favours environmentally mediated altruism or spite is determined by the spatial correlation between an individual's lineage and the commons originating from its patch. The sign of this correlation depends on interactions between dispersal patterns and the commons' renewal dynamics. More broadly, we suggest that selection can favour a wide range of social behaviours when these have carry-over effects in space and time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Mullon
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jorge Peña
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Toulouse School of Economics, Toulouse, France
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, France
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Laurent Lehmann
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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2
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Prigent I, Mullon C. The molding of intraspecific trait variation by selection under ecological inheritance. Evolution 2023; 77:2144-2161. [PMID: 37459126 DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpad124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
Organisms continuously modify their environment, often impacting the fitness of future conspecifics due to ecological inheritance. When this inheritance is biased toward kin, selection favors modifications that increase the fitness of downstream individuals. How such selection shapes trait variation within populations remains poorly understood. Using mathematical modelling, we investigate the coevolution of multiple traits in a group-structured population when these traits affect the group environment, which is then bequeathed to future generations. We examine when such coevolution favors polymorphism as well as the resulting associations among traits. We find in particular that two traits become associated when one trait affects the environment while the other influences the likelihood that future kin experience this environment. To illustrate this, we model the coevolution of (a) the attack rate on a local renewable resource, which deteriorates environmental conditions, with (b) dispersal between groups, which reduces the likelihood that kin suffers from such deterioration. We show this often leads to the emergence of two highly differentiated morphs: one that readily disperses and depletes local resources, and another that maintains these resources and tends to remain philopatric. More broadly, we suggest that ecological inheritance can contribute to phenotypic diversity and lead to complex polymorphism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Prigent
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Charles Mullon
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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3
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Longcamp A, Draghi J. Evolutionary rescue via niche construction: Infrequent construction can prevent post-invasion extinction. Theor Popul Biol 2023; 153:37-49. [PMID: 37328113 DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2023.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
A population experiencing habitat loss can avoid extinction by undergoing genetic adaptation-a process known as evolutionary rescue. Here we analytically approximate the probability of evolutionary rescue via a niche-constructing mutation that allows carriers to convert a novel, unfavorable reproductive habitat to a favorable state at a cost to their fecundity. We analyze competition between mutants and non-niche-constructing wild types, who ultimately require the constructed habitats to reproduce. We find that over-exploitation of the constructed habitats by wild types can generate damped oscillations in population size shortly after mutant invasion, thereby decreasing the probability of rescue. Such post-invasion extinction is less probable when construction is infrequent, habitat loss is common, the reproductive environment is large, or the population's carrying capacity is small. Under these conditions, wild types are less likely to encounter the constructed habitats and, consequently, mutants are more likely to fix. These results suggest that, without a mechanism that deters wild type inheritance of the constructed habitats, a population undergoing rescue via niche construction may remain prone to short-timescale extinction despite successful mutant invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Longcamp
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States of America.
| | - Jeremy Draghi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States of America
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4
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Twyman KZ, Gardner A. Kin selection of time travel: the social evolutionary causes and consequences of dormancy. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231247. [PMID: 37700652 PMCID: PMC10498053 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023] Open
Abstract
A basic mechanism of kin selection is limited dispersal, whereby individuals remain close to their place of origin such that even indiscriminate social interaction tends to modify the fitness of genealogical kin. Accordingly, the causes and consequences of dispersal have received an enormous amount of attention in the social evolution literature. This work has focused on dispersal of individuals in space, yet similar logic should apply to dispersal of individuals in time (e.g. dormancy). We investigate how kin selection drives the evolution of dormancy and how dormancy modulates the evolution of altruism. We recover dormancy analogues of key results that have previously been given for dispersal, showing that: (1) kin selection favours dormancy as a means of relaxing competition between relatives; (2) when individuals may adjust their dormancy behaviour to local density, they are favoured to do so, resulting in greater dormancy in high-density neighbourhoods and a concomitant 'constant non-dormant principle'; (3) when dormancy is constrained to be independent of density, there is no relationship between the rate of dormancy and the evolutionary potential for altruism; and (4) when dormancy is able to evolve in a density-dependent manner, a greater potential for altruism is expected in populations with lower dormancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kalyani Z. Twyman
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Greenside Place, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Andy Gardner
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Greenside Place, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
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5
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Fronhofer EA, Corenblit D, Deshpande JN, Govaert L, Huneman P, Viard F, Jarne P, Puijalon S. Eco-evolution from deep time to contemporary dynamics: The role of timescales and rate modulators. Ecol Lett 2023; 26 Suppl 1:S91-S108. [PMID: 37840024 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
Eco-evolutionary dynamics, or eco-evolution for short, are often thought to involve rapid demography (ecology) and equally rapid heritable phenotypic changes (evolution) leading to novel, emergent system behaviours. We argue that this focus on contemporary dynamics is too narrow: Eco-evolution should be extended, first, beyond pure demography to include all environmental dimensions and, second, to include slow eco-evolution which unfolds over thousands or millions of years. This extension allows us to conceptualise biological systems as occupying a two-dimensional time space along axes that capture the speed of ecology and evolution. Using Hutchinson's analogy: Time is the 'theatre' in which ecology and evolution are two interacting 'players'. Eco-evolutionary systems are therefore dynamic: We identify modulators of ecological and evolutionary rates, like temperature or sensitivity to mutation, which can change the speed of ecology and evolution, and hence impact eco-evolution. Environmental change may synchronise the speed of ecology and evolution via these rate modulators, increasing the occurrence of eco-evolution and emergent system behaviours. This represents substantial challenges for prediction, especially in the context of global change. Our perspective attempts to integrate ecology and evolution across disciplines, from gene-regulatory networks to geomorphology and across timescales, from today to deep time.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dov Corenblit
- GEOLAB, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, Clermont-Ferrand, France
- Laboratoire écologie fonctionnelle et environnement, Université Paul Sabatier, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | | | - Lynn Govaert
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany
| | - Philippe Huneman
- Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques (CNRS/Université Paris I Sorbonne), Paris, France
| | - Frédérique Viard
- ISEM, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
| | - Philippe Jarne
- CEFE, UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - IRD - EPHE, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - Sara Puijalon
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR 5023 LEHNA, Villeurbanne, France
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6
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Lehtonen J, Otsuka J. Evolutionary game theory of continuous traits from a causal perspective. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210507. [PMID: 36934761 PMCID: PMC10024988 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Modern evolutionary game theory typically deals with the evolution of continuous, quantitative traits under weak selection, allowing the incorporation of rich biological detail and complicated nonlinear interactions. While these models are commonly used to find candidates for evolutionary endpoints and to approximate evolutionary trajectories, a less appreciated property is their potential to expose and clarify the causal structure of evolutionary processes. The mathematical step of differentiation breaks a nonlinear model into additive components which are more intuitive to interpret, and when combined with a proper causal hypothesis, partial derivatives in such models have a causal meaning. Such an approach has been used in the causal analysis of game-theoretical models in an informal manner. Here we formalize this approach by linking evolutionary game theory to concepts developed in causal modelling over the past century, from path coefficients to the recently proposed causal derivative. There is a direct correspondence between the causal derivative and the derivative used in evolutionary game theory. Some game theoretical models (e.g. kin selection) consist of multiple causal derivatives. Components of these derivatives correspond to components of the causal derivative, to path coefficients, and to edges on a causal graph, formally linking evolutionary game theory to causal modelling. This article is part of the theme issue 'Half a century of evolutionary games: a synthesis of theory, application and future directions'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jussi Lehtonen
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Jun Otsuka
- Department of Philosophy, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Hommachi, 606-8501 Kyoto, Japan
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7
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Avila P, Mullon C. Evolutionary game theory and the adaptive dynamics approach: adaptation where individuals interact. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210502. [PMID: 36934752 PMCID: PMC10024992 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary game theory and the adaptive dynamics approach have made invaluable contributions to understanding how gradual evolution leads to adaptation when individuals interact. Here, we review some of the basic tools that have come out of these contributions to model the evolution of quantitative traits in complex populations. We collect together mathematical expressions that describe directional and disruptive selection in class- and group-structured populations in terms of individual fitness, with the aims of bridging different models and interpreting selection. In particular, our review of disruptive selection suggests there are two main paths that can lead to diversity: (i) when individual fitness increases more than linearly with trait expression; (ii) when trait expression simultaneously increases the probability that an individual is in a certain context (e.g. a given age, sex, habitat, size or social environment) and fitness in that context. We provide various examples of these and more broadly argue that population structure lays the ground for the emergence of polymorphism with unique characteristics. Beyond this, we hope that the descriptions of selection we present here help see the tight links among fundamental branches of evolutionary biology, from life history to social evolution through evolutionary ecology, and thus favour further their integration. This article is part of the theme issue 'Half a century of evolutionary games: a synthesis of theory, application and future directions'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piret Avila
- Institute for Advanced Studies in Toulouse, Université Toulouse 1 Capitole, 31080 Toulouse, France
| | - Charles Mullon
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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8
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Fogarty L, Wade MJ. Niche construction in quantitative traits: heritability and response to selection. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220401. [PMID: 35642369 PMCID: PMC9156914 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
A central tenet of niche construction (NC) theory is that organisms can alter their environments in heritable and evolutionarily important ways, often altering selection pressures. We suggest that the physical changes niche constructors make to their environments may also alter trait heritability and the response of phenotypes to selection. This effect might change evolution, over and above the effect of NC acting via selection alone. We develop models of trait evolution that allow us to partition the effects of NC on trait heritability from those on selection to better investigate their distinct effects. We show that the response of a phenotype to selection and so the pace of phenotypic change can be considerably altered in the presence of NC and that this effect is compounded when trans-generational interactions are included. We argue that novel mathematical approaches are needed to describe the simultaneous effects of NC on trait evolution via selection and heritability. Just as indirect genetic effects have been shown to significantly increase trait heritability, the effects of NC on heritability in our model suggest a need for further theoretical development of the concept of heritability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurel Fogarty
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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9
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Goekoop R, de Kleijn R. Permutation Entropy as a Universal Disorder Criterion: How Disorders at Different Scale Levels Are Manifestations of the Same Underlying Principle. ENTROPY (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 23:1701. [PMID: 34946007 PMCID: PMC8700347 DOI: 10.3390/e23121701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2021] [Revised: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
What do bacteria, cells, organs, people, and social communities have in common? At first sight, perhaps not much. They involve totally different agents and scale levels of observation. On second thought, however, perhaps they share everything. A growing body of literature suggests that living systems at different scale levels of observation follow the same architectural principles and process information in similar ways. Moreover, such systems appear to respond in similar ways to rising levels of stress, especially when stress levels approach near-lethal levels. To explain such communalities, we argue that all organisms (including humans) can be modeled as hierarchical Bayesian controls systems that are governed by the same biophysical principles. Such systems show generic changes when taxed beyond their ability to correct for environmental disturbances. Without exception, stressed organisms show rising levels of 'disorder' (randomness, unpredictability) in internal message passing and overt behavior. We argue that such changes can be explained by a collapse of allostatic (high-level integrative) control, which normally synchronizes activity of the various components of a living system to produce order. The selective overload and cascading failure of highly connected (hub) nodes flattens hierarchical control, producing maladaptive behavior. Thus, we present a theory according to which organic concepts such as stress, a loss of control, disorder, disease, and death can be operationalized in biophysical terms that apply to all scale levels of organization. Given the presumed universality of this mechanism, 'losing control' appears to involve the same process anywhere, whether involving bacteria succumbing to an antibiotic agent, people suffering from physical or mental disorders, or social systems slipping into warfare. On a practical note, measures of disorder may serve as early warning signs of system failure even when catastrophic failure is still some distance away.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rutger Goekoop
- Parnassia Group, PsyQ Parnassia Academy, Department of Anxiety Disorders, Early Detection and Intervention Team (EDIT), Lijnbaan 4, 2512 VA Den Haag, The Netherlands
| | - Roy de Kleijn
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, The Netherlands;
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10
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Chang CC, Nghiem TPL, Fan Q, Tan CLY, Oh RRY, Lin BB, Shanahan DF, Fuller RA, Gaston KJ, Carrasco LR. Genetic Contribution to Concern for Nature and Proenvironmental Behavior. Bioscience 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biab103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Earth is undergoing a devastating extinction crisis caused by human impacts on nature, but only a fraction of society is strongly concerned and acting on the crisis. Understanding what determines people's concern for nature, environmental movement activism, and personal conservation behavior is fundamental if sustainability is to be achieved. Despite its potential importance, the study of the genetic contribution to concern for nature and proenvironmental behaviors has been neglected. Using a twin data set (N = 2312), we show moderate heritability (30%–40%) for concern for nature, environmental movement activism, and personal conservation behavior and high genetic correlations between them (.6–.7), suggesting a partially shared genetic basis. Our results shed light on the individual variation in sustainable behaviors, highlighting the importance of understanding both the environmental and genetic components in the pursuit of sustainability.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Qiao Fan
- Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
| | | | - Rachel Rui Ying Oh
- Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Brenda B Lin
- CSIRO Land and Water Flagship, Dutton Park, Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Richard A Fuller
- Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Kevin J Gaston
- Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom
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11
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Croft DP, Weiss MN, Nielsen MLK, Grimes C, Cant MA, Ellis S, Franks DW, Johnstone RA. Kinship dynamics: patterns and consequences of changes in local relatedness. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211129. [PMID: 34403632 PMCID: PMC8370800 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Mounting evidence suggests that patterns of local relatedness can change over time in predictable ways, a process termed kinship dynamics. Kinship dynamics may occur at the level of the population or social group, where the mean relatedness across all members of the population or group changes over time, or at the level of the individual, where an individual's relatedness to its local group changes with age. Kinship dynamics are likely to have fundamental consequences for the evolution of social behaviour and life history because they alter the inclusive fitness payoffs to actions taken at different points in time. For instance, growing evidence suggests that individual kinship dynamics have shaped the evolution of menopause and age-specific patterns of helping and harming. To date, however, the consequences of kinship dynamics for social evolution have not been widely explored. Here we review the patterns of kinship dynamics that can occur in natural populations and highlight how taking a kinship dynamics approach has yielded new insights into behaviour and life-history evolution. We discuss areas where analysing kinship dynamics could provide new insight into social evolution, and we outline some of the challenges in predicting and quantifying kinship dynamics in natural populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren P. Croft
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Michael N. Weiss
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
- Center for Whale Research, Friday Harbour, WA, USA
| | - Mia L. K. Nielsen
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Charli Grimes
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Michael A. Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, UK
| | - Samuel Ellis
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Daniel W. Franks
- Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK
- Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, UK
| | - Rufus A. Johnstone
- Behaviour and Evolution Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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12
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Iritani R, West SA, Abe J. Cooperative interactions among females can lead to even more extraordinary sex ratios. Evol Lett 2021; 5:370-384. [PMID: 34367662 PMCID: PMC8327954 DOI: 10.1002/evl3.217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Revised: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Hamilton's local mate competition theory provided an explanation for extraordinary female-biased sex ratios in a range of organisms. When mating takes place locally, in structured populations, a female-biased sex ratio is favored to reduce competition between related males, and to provide more mates for males. However, there are a number of wasp species in which the sex ratios appear to more female biased than predicted by Hamilton's theory. It has been hypothesized that the additional female bias in these wasp species results from cooperative interactions between females. We investigated theoretically the extent to which cooperation between related females can interact with local mate competition to favor even more female-biased sex ratios. We found that (i) cooperation between females can lead to sex ratios that are more female biased than predicted by local competition theory alone, and (ii) sex ratios can be more female biased when the cooperation occurs from offspring to mothers before dispersal, rather than cooperation between siblings after dispersal. Our models formally confirm the verbal predictions made in previous experimental studies, which could be applied to a range of organisms. Specifically, cooperation can help explain sex ratio biases in Sclerodermus and Melittobia wasps, although quantitative comparisons between predictions and data suggest that some additional factors may be operating.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryosuke Iritani
- Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS)RIKENWako351‐0198Japan
| | - Stuart A. West
- Department of ZoologyUniversity of OxfordOxfordOX1 3PSUnited Kingdom
| | - Jun Abe
- Faculty of Liberal ArtsMeiji Gakuin UniversityYokohama244–8539Japan
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13
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Chang CC, Kristensen NP, Le Nghiem TP, Tan CLY, Carrasco LR. Having a stake in the future and perceived population density influence intergenerational cooperation. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:210206. [PMID: 34295521 PMCID: PMC8278064 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Intergenerational common-pool resource games represent a new experimental paradigm in which the current generation's decision to cooperate or defect influences future generations who cannot reciprocate, providing key insights for sustainability science. We combine experimental and theoretical approaches to assess the roles of having a stake in the future (50% chance to pass the resource on to themselves in the next generation) and reminders of the presence of others (exposure to people-chatting sounds) on intergenerational cooperation. We find that, as expected, having a stake in the future increases cooperation with future generations, except when participants are also exposed to people-chatting sounds. We hypothesize that this interaction effect occurs because people-chatting sounds trigger a perception of large group size, which reduces the chance of individuals and their descendants benefiting from the pool in the future, thus reducing cooperation. Our results highlight the context-dependent effect of having a future stake on intergenerational cooperation for resource sustainability, and suggest an area of future work for environmental messaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chia-chen Chang
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Nadiah P. Kristensen
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Thi Phuong Le Nghiem
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Claudia L. Y. Tan
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - L. Roman Carrasco
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore
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14
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Mullon C, Wakano JY, Ohtsuki H. Coevolutionary dynamics of genetic traits and their long-term extended effects under non-random interactions. J Theor Biol 2021; 525:110750. [PMID: 33957155 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 04/25/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Organisms continuously modify their living conditions via extended genetic effects on their environment, microbiome, and in some species culture. These effects can impact the fitness of current but also future conspecifics due to non-genetic transmission via ecological or cultural inheritance. In this case, selection on a gene with extended effects depends on the degree to which current and future genetic relatives are exposed to modified conditions. Here, we detail the selection gradient on a quantitative trait with extended effects in a patch-structured population, when gene flow between patches is limited and ecological inheritance within patches can be biased towards offspring. Such a situation is relevant to understand evolutionary driven changes in individual condition that can be preferentially transmitted from parent to offspring, such as cellular state, micro-environments (e.g., nests), pathogens, microbiome, or culture. Our analysis quantifies how the interaction between limited gene flow and biased ecological inheritance influences the joint evolutionary dynamics of traits together with the conditions they modify, helping understand adaptation via non-genetic modifications. As an illustration, we apply our analysis to a gene-culture coevolution scenario in which genetically-determined learning strategies coevolve with adaptive knowledge. In particular, we show that when social learning is synergistic, selection can favour strategies that generate remarkable levels of knowledge under intermediate levels of both vertical cultural transmission and limited dispersal. More broadly, our theory yields insights into the interplay between genetic and non-genetic inheritance, with implications for how organisms evolve to transform their environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Mullon
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan.
| | - Joe Yuichiro Wakano
- Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8525, Japan
| | - Hisashi Ohtsuki
- Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan
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15
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Fitzpatrick C, Ciresi CM, Wade MJ. The evolutionary genetics of paternal care: How good genes and extrapair copulation affect the trade-off between paternal care and mating success. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:1165-1174. [PMID: 33598121 PMCID: PMC7863384 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Revised: 09/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigate the evolution of a gene for paternal care, with pleiotropic effects on male mating fitness and offspring viability, with and without extrapair copulations (EPCs). We develop a population genetic model to examine how pleiotropic effects of a male mating advantage and paternal care are affected by "good genes" and EPCs. Using this approach, we show that the relative effects of each on fitness do not always predict the evolutionary change. We then find the line of combinations of mating success and paternal care that bisects the plane of possible values into regions of positive or negative gene frequency change. This line shifts when either good genes or EPCs are introduced, thereby expanding or contracting the region of positive gene frequency change and significantly affecting the evolution of paternal care. Predictably, a direct viability effect of "good genes" that enhances offspring viability constrains or expands the parameter space over which paternal care can evolve, depending on whether the viability effect is associated with the paternal care allele or not. In either case, the effect of a "good gene" that enhances offspring viability is substantial; when strong enough, it can even facilitate the evolution of poor paternal care, where males harm their young. When nonrandom mating is followed by random EPCs, the genetic regression between sire and offspring is reduced and, consequently, the relative strengths of selection are skewed away from paternal care and toward the male mating advantage. However, when random mating is followed by nonrandom EPCs, a situation called "trading up" by females, we show that selection is skewed in the opposite direction, away from male mating advantage and toward paternal care across the natural range of EPC frequencies.
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16
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Grafen A. The Price equation and reproductive value. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190356. [PMID: 32146885 PMCID: PMC7133508 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The Price equation is widely recognized as capturing conceptually important properties of natural selection, and is often used to derive versions of Fisher's fundamental theorem of natural selection, the secondary theorems of natural selection and other significant results. However, class structure is not usually incorporated into these arguments. From the starting point of Fisher's original connection between fitness and reproductive value, a principled way of incorporating reproductive value and structured populations into the Price equation is explained, with its implications for precise meanings of (two distinct kinds of) reproductive value and of fitness. Once the Price equation applies to structured populations, then the other equations follow. The fundamental theorem itself has a special place among these equations, not only because it always incorporated class structure (and its method is followed for general class structures), but also because that is the result that justifies the important idea that these equations identify the effect of natural selection. The precise definitions of reproductive value and fitness have striking and unexpected features. However, a theoretical challenge emerges from the articulation of Fisher's structure: is it possible to retain the ecological properties of fitness as well as its evolutionary out-of-equilibrium properties? This article is part of the theme issue 'Fifty years of the Price equation'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Grafen
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
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Kuijper B, Johnstone RA. The evolution of early-life effects on social behaviour-why should social adversity carry over to the future? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 374:20180111. [PMID: 30966877 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that social adversity in early life can have long-lasting consequences for social behaviour in adulthood, consequences that may in turn be propagated to future generations. Given these intergenerational effects, it is puzzling why natural selection might favour such sensitivity to an individual's early social environment. To address this question, we model the evolution of social sensitivity in the development of helping behaviours, showing that natural selection indeed favours individuals whose tendency to help others is dependent on early-life social experience. In organisms with non-overlapping generations, we find that natural selection can favour positive social feedbacks, in which individuals who received more help in early life are also more likely to help others in adulthood, while individuals who received no early-life help develop low tendencies to help others later in life. This positive social sensitivity is favoured because of an intergenerational relatedness feedback: patches with many helpers tend to be more productive, leading to higher relatedness within the local group, which in turn favours higher levels of help in the next generation. In organisms with overlapping generations, this positive feedback is less likely to occur, and those who received more help may instead be less likely to help others (negative social feedback). We conclude that early-life social influences can lead to strong between-individual differences in helping behaviour, which can take different forms dependent on the life history in question. This article is part of the theme issue 'Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bram Kuijper
- 1 Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter Cornwall Campus , Penryn TR10 9FE , UK
| | - Rufus A Johnstone
- 2 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge , Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ , UK
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Akçay E. Deconstructing Evolutionary Game Theory: Coevolution of Social Behaviors with Their Evolutionary Setting. Am Nat 2019; 195:315-330. [PMID: 32017621 DOI: 10.1086/706811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Evolution of social behaviors is one of the most fascinating and active fields of evolutionary biology. During the past half century, social evolution theory developed into a mature field with powerful tools to understand the dynamics of social traits such as cooperation under a wide range of conditions. In this article, I argue that the next stage in the development of social evolution theory should consider the evolution of the setting in which social behaviors evolve. To that end, I propose a conceptual map of the components that make up the evolutionary setting of social behaviors, review existing work that considers the evolution of each component, and discuss potential future directions. The theoretical work reviewed here illustrates how unexpected dynamics can happen when the setting of social evolution itself is evolving, such as cooperation sometimes being self-limiting. I argue that a theory of how the setting of social evolution itself evolves will lead to a deeper understanding of when cooperation and other social behaviors evolve and diversify.
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Kobayashi Y, Wakano JY, Ohtsuki H. Evolution of cumulative culture for niche construction. J Theor Biol 2019; 472:67-76. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.04.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2018] [Revised: 04/02/2019] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Laidre ME. Architectural modification of shells by terrestrial hermit crabs alters social dynamics in later generations. Ecology 2019; 100:e02767. [PMID: 31162638 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2019] [Revised: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Organisms architecturally modify environments and these modifications may persist across generations, potentially strongly shaping social behavior. However, few experiments have directly tested the impact of architectural modifications from earlier generations on social behavior in later generations. Here, I report experiments using extremely durable resources, shells, which endure for decades to centuries in stable form. Terrestrial hermit crabs (Coenobita compressus) architecturally remodel shells and pass these modified shelters to subsequent generations, which reuse them long after the original architect's death. I conducted controlled field experiments in a population of these crabs in which shells have been individually marked and tracked for a decade. I examined the impact of architectural modifications by contrasting social behavior around introduced shells, either remodeled shells (whose internal architecture was modified by earlier generations) or unremodeled shells (whose architecture had never been modified). Remodeled shells generated radically different social dynamics than unremodeled shells, catalyzing vacancy chains in which shells were socially redistributed across the population. Social groups that formed around remodeled shells consisted of size-ordered queues, with precise timing and social coordination required if individuals were to acquire superior shells. Interestingly, comparative experiments in two non-architect species (Clibanarius albidigitus and Calcinus obscurus) failed to show any impact of architectural modifications on social behavior; such impacts were only found in the architect species (C. compressus). Broadly, architecture from earlier generations can thus play a major role in driving social dynamics among later generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark E Laidre
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755, USA
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21
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Gupta M, Prasad NG, Dey S, Joshi A, Vidya T NC. Niche construction in evolutionary theory: the construction of an academic niche? J Genet 2019; 96:491-504. [PMID: 28761012 DOI: 10.1007/s12041-017-0787-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Manan Gupta
- Evolutionary Biology Laboratory, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bengaluru 560 064, India.
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Vitikainen EIK, Thompson FJ, Marshall HH, Cant MA. Live long and prosper: durable benefits of early-life care in banded mongooses. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20180114. [PMID: 30966878 PMCID: PMC6460079 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Kin selection theory defines the conditions for which altruism or 'helping' can be favoured by natural selection. Tests of this theory in cooperatively breeding animals have focused on the short-term benefits to the recipients of help, such as improved growth or survival to adulthood. However, research on early-life effects suggests that there may be more durable, lifelong fitness impacts to the recipients of help, which in theory should strengthen selection for helping. Here, we show in cooperatively breeding banded mongooses ( Mungos mungo) that care received in the first 3 months of life has lifelong fitness benefits for both male and female recipients. In this species, adult helpers called 'escorts' form exclusive one-to-one caring relationships with specific pups (not their own offspring), allowing us to isolate the effects of being escorted on later reproduction and survival. Pups that were more closely escorted were heavier at sexual maturity, which was associated with higher lifetime reproductive success for both sexes. Moreover, for female offspring, lifetime reproductive success increased with the level of escorting received per se, over and above any effect on body mass. Our results suggest that early-life social care has durable benefits to offspring of both sexes in this species. Given the well-established developmental effects of early-life care in laboratory animals and humans, we suggest that similar effects are likely to be widespread in social animals more generally. We discuss some of the implications of durable fitness benefits for the evolution of intergenerational helping in cooperative animal societies, including humans. This article is part of the theme issue 'Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma I. K. Vitikainen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Faye J. Thompson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
| | - Harry H. Marshall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Roehampton, London, UK
| | - Michael A. Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
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Estrela S, Libby E, Van Cleve J, Débarre F, Deforet M, Harcombe WR, Peña J, Brown SP, Hochberg ME. Environmentally Mediated Social Dilemmas. Trends Ecol Evol 2019; 34:6-18. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2018] [Revised: 10/03/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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Mullon C, Lehmann L. Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics in Metacommunities: Ecological Inheritance, Helping within Species, and Harming between Species. Am Nat 2018; 192:664-686. [DOI: 10.1086/700094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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25
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Zeder MA. Why evolutionary biology needs anthropology: Evaluating core assumptions of the extended evolutionary synthesis. Evol Anthropol 2018; 27:267-284. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2018] [Revised: 06/12/2018] [Accepted: 08/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Melinda A. Zeder
- Department of AnthropologyNational Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Washington District of Columbia
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26
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Rodrigues AMM. Ecological succession, patch age and the evolution of social behaviour and terminal investment. OIKOS 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.05341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- António M. M. Rodrigues
- Dept of Zoology, Univ. of Cambridge; Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3EJ UK
- Wolfson College; Barton Road Cambridge UK
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27
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Rodrigues AMM. Demography, life history and the evolution of age-dependent social behaviour. J Evol Biol 2018; 31:1340-1353. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2018] [Revised: 04/15/2018] [Accepted: 06/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Chisholm RH, Connelly BD, Kerr B, Tanaka MM. The Role of Pleiotropy in the Evolutionary Maintenance of Positive Niche Construction. Am Nat 2018; 192:35-48. [DOI: 10.1086/697471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Abstract
One of the challenges in evaluating arguments for extending the conceptual framework of evolutionary biology involves the identification of a tractable model system that allows for an assessment of the core assumptions of the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES). The domestication of plants and animals by humans provides one such case study opportunity. Here, I consider domestication as a model system for exploring major tenets of the EES. First I discuss the novel insights that niche construction theory (NCT, one of the pillars of the EES) provides into the domestication processes, particularly as they relate to five key areas: coevolution, evolvability, ecological inheritance, cooperation and the pace of evolutionary change. This discussion is next used to frame testable predictions about initial domestication of plants and animals that contrast with those grounded in standard evolutionary theory, demonstrating how these predictions might be tested in multiple regions where initial domestication took place. I then turn to a broader consideration of how domestication provides a model case study consideration of the different ways in which the core assumptions of the EES strengthen and expand our understanding of evolution, including reciprocal causation, developmental processes as drivers of evolutionary change, inclusive inheritance, and the tempo and rate of evolutionary change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melinda A. Zeder
- Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th and Constitution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
- Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
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30
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Affiliation(s)
- Jarrod D. Hadfield
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology University of Edinburgh Edinburgh EH8 9YL UK
| | - Caroline E. Thomson
- Department of Zoology Edward Grey Institute University of Oxford Oxford OX1 3PS UK
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31
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Inclusive fitness analysis of cumulative cultural evolution in an island-structured population. Theor Popul Biol 2017; 115:13-23. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2017.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2016] [Revised: 03/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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32
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Eldon B, Riquet F, Yearsley J, Jollivet D, Broquet T. Current hypotheses to explain genetic chaos under the sea. Curr Zool 2016; 62:551-566. [PMID: 29491945 PMCID: PMC5829445 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zow094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2016] [Accepted: 08/27/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Chaotic genetic patchiness (CGP) refers to surprising patterns of spatial and temporal genetic structure observed in some marine species at a scale where genetic variation should be efficiently homogenized by gene flow via larval dispersal. Here we review and discuss 4 mechanisms that could generate such unexpected patterns: selection, sweepstakes reproductive success, collective dispersal, and temporal shifts in local population dynamics. First, we review examples where genetic differentiation at specific loci was driven by diversifying selection, which was historically the first process invoked to explain CGP. Second, we turn to neutral demographic processes that may drive genome-wide effects, and whose effects on CGP may be enhanced when they act together. We discuss how sweepstakes reproductive success accelerates genetic drift and can thus generate genetic structure, provided that gene flow is not too strong. Collective dispersal is another mechanism whereby genetic structure can be maintained regardless of dispersal intensity, because it may prevent larval cohorts from becoming entirely mixed. Theoretical analyses of both the sweepstakes and the collective dispersal ideas are presented. Finally, we discuss an idea that has received less attention than the other ones just mentioned, namely temporal shifts in local population dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bjarki Eldon
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institut für Evolutions- und
Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin 10115, Germany
| | - Florentine Riquet
- Université Montpellier 2, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5,
France
- ISEM - CNRS, UMR 5554, SMEL, 2 rue des Chantiers, Sète 34200, France
| | - Jon Yearsley
- School of Biology and Environmental Science and UCD Earth Institute,
University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Didier Jollivet
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Team Adaptation and Biology of
Invertebrates in Extreme Environments, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Roscoff 29680,
France
- Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Unité Mixte de
Recherche 7144, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Roscoff 29680, France
| | - Thomas Broquet
- Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Unité Mixte de
Recherche 7144, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Roscoff 29680, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Team Diversity and
Connectivity of Coastal Marine Landscapes, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Roscoff 29680,
France
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33
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34
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Leighton GM, Echeverri S, Heinrich D, Kolberg H. Relatedness predicts multiple measures of investment in cooperative nest construction in sociable weavers. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015; 69:1835-1843. [PMID: 26726282 PMCID: PMC4693614 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1996-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Although communal goods are often critical to society, they are simultaneously susceptible to exploitation and are evolutionarily stable only if mechanisms exist to curtail exploitation. Mechanisms such as punishment and kin selection have been offered as general explanations for how communal resources can be maintained. Evidence for these mechanisms comes largely from humans and social insects, leaving their generality in question. To assess how communal resources are maintained, we observed cooperative nest construction in sociable weavers (Philetairus socius). The communal nest of sociable weavers provides thermal benefits for all individuals but requires continual maintenance. We observed cooperative nest construction and also recorded basic morphological characteristics. We also collected blood samples, performed next-generation sequencing, and isolated 2358 variable single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to estimate relatedness. We find that relatedness predicts investment in cooperative nest construction, while no other morphological characters significantly explain cooperative output. We argue that indirect benefits are a critical fitness component for maintaining the cooperative behavior that maintains the communal good.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gavin M. Leighton
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Sebastian Echeverri
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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35
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Connelly BD, Dickinson KJ, Hammarlund SP, Kerr B. Negative niche construction favors the evolution of cooperation. Evol Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-015-9803-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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36
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Moczek AP, Sears KE, Stollewerk A, Wittkopp PJ, Diggle P, Dworkin I, Ledon-Rettig C, Matus DQ, Roth S, Abouheif E, Brown FD, Chiu CH, Cohen CS, Tomaso AWD, Gilbert SF, Hall B, Love AC, Lyons DC, Sanger TJ, Smith J, Specht C, Vallejo-Marin M, Extavour CG. The significance and scope of evolutionary developmental biology: a vision for the 21st century. Evol Dev 2015; 17:198-219. [PMID: 25963198 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) has undergone dramatic transformations since its emergence as a distinct discipline. This paper aims to highlight the scope, power, and future promise of evo-devo to transform and unify diverse aspects of biology. We articulate key questions at the core of eleven biological disciplines-from Evolution, Development, Paleontology, and Neurobiology to Cellular and Molecular Biology, Quantitative Genetics, Human Diseases, Ecology, Agriculture and Science Education, and lastly, Evolutionary Developmental Biology itself-and discuss why evo-devo is uniquely situated to substantially improve our ability to find meaningful answers to these fundamental questions. We posit that the tools, concepts, and ways of thinking developed by evo-devo have profound potential to advance, integrate, and unify biological sciences as well as inform policy decisions and illuminate science education. We look to the next generation of evolutionary developmental biologists to help shape this process as we confront the scientific challenges of the 21st century.
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Affiliation(s)
- Armin P Moczek
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, 915 East 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Karen E Sears
- School of Integrative Biology and Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, 505 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Angelika Stollewerk
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK
| | - Patricia J Wittkopp
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Pamela Diggle
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA
| | - Ian Dworkin
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. West Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Cristina Ledon-Rettig
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, 915 East 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - David Q Matus
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Stony Brook University, 412 Life Sciences Building, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-5215, USA
| | - Siegfried Roth
- University of Cologne, Institute of Developmental Biology, Biocenter, Zülpicher Straße 47b, D-50674, Cologne, Germany
| | - Ehab Abouheif
- Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Avenue Docteur Penfield, Montréal Québec, H3A 1B1, Canada
| | - Federico D Brown
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, Travessa 14, no. 101, 05508-090, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Chi-Hua Chiu
- Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, OH, USA
| | - C Sarah Cohen
- Biology Department, Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, San Francisco State University, 3150 Paradise Drive, Tiburon, CA, 94920, USA
| | | | - Scott F Gilbert
- Department of Biology, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081, USA and Biotechnology Institute, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Brian Hall
- Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CA, B3H 4R2, USA
| | - Alan C Love
- Department of Philosophy, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Minnesota, USA
| | - Deirdre C Lyons
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Box 90338, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Thomas J Sanger
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 103610, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Joel Smith
- Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA
| | - Chelsea Specht
- Plant and Microbial Biology, Department of Integrative Biology, University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Mario Vallejo-Marin
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, BioLabs 4103, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
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38
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Huneman P. Individuality as a Theoretical Scheme. II. About the Weak Individuality of Organisms and Ecosystems. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s13752-014-0193-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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39
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Scott-Phillips TC, Laland KN, Shuker DM, Dickins TE, West SA. The niche construction perspective: a critical appraisal. Evolution 2014; 68:1231-43. [PMID: 24325256 PMCID: PMC4261998 DOI: 10.1111/evo.12332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2013] [Accepted: 11/27/2013] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
Niche construction refers to the activities of organisms that bring about changes in their environments, many of which are evolutionarily and ecologically consequential. Advocates of niche construction theory (NCT) believe that standard evolutionary theory fails to recognize the full importance of niche construction, and consequently propose a novel view of evolution, in which niche construction and its legacy over time (ecological inheritance) are described as evolutionary processes, equivalent in importance to natural selection. Here, we subject NCT to critical evaluation, in the form of a collaboration between one prominent advocate of NCT, and a team of skeptics. We discuss whether niche construction is an evolutionary process, whether NCT obscures or clarifies how natural selection leads to organismal adaptation, and whether niche construction and natural selection are of equivalent explanatory importance. We also consider whether the literature that promotes NCT overstates the significance of niche construction, whether it is internally coherent, and whether it accurately portrays standard evolutionary theory. Our disagreements reflect a wider dispute within evolutionary theory over whether the neo-Darwinian synthesis is in need of reformulation, as well as different usages of some key terms (e.g., evolutionary process).
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Laland K, Odling-Smee J, Turner S. The role of internal and external constructive processes in evolution. J Physiol 2014; 592:2413-22. [PMID: 24591574 DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2014.272070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The architects of the Modern Synthesis viewed development as an unfolding of a form already latent in the genes. However, developing organisms play a far more active, constructive role in both their own development and their evolution than the Modern Synthesis proclaims. Here we outline what is meant by constructive processes in development and evolution, emphasizing how constructive development is a shared feature of many of the research developments central to the developing Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. Our article draws out the parallels between constructive physiological processes expressed internally and in the external environment (niche construction), showing how in each case they play important and not fully recognized evolutionary roles by modifying and biasing natural selection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Scott Turner
- Department of Biology, State University of New York (SUNY), Syracuse, NY, USA
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Abstract
Heterotypic cooperation—two populations exchanging distinct benefits that are costly to produce—is widespread. Cheaters, exploiting benefits while evading contribution, can undermine cooperation. Two mechanisms can stabilize heterotypic cooperation. In ‘partner choice’, cooperators recognize and choose cooperating over cheating partners; in ‘partner fidelity feedback’, fitness-feedback from repeated interactions ensures that aiding your partner helps yourself. How might a spatial environment, which facilitates repeated interactions, promote fitness-feedback? We examined this process through mathematical models and engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains incapable of recognition. Here, cooperators and their heterotypic cooperative partners (partners) exchanged distinct essential metabolites. Cheaters exploited partner-produced metabolites without reciprocating, and were competitively superior to cooperators. Despite initially random spatial distributions, cooperators gained more partner neighbors than cheaters did. The less a cheater contributed, the more it was excluded and disfavored. This self-organization, driven by asymmetric fitness effects of cooperators and cheaters on partners during cell growth into open space, achieves assortment. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00960.001 Cooperation between individuals of the same species, and also between different species, is known to be important in evolution. Large fish, for example, rely on small cleaner fish to remove parasites, while the small fish benefit from the nutrients in these parasites. However, cooperation can be undermined by other individuals or species who “cheat” by taking advantage of those who cooperate, without providing any benefits in return. For example, some cleaner fish cheat by biting off healthy tissue from their host, in addition to parasites. Genetically-related individuals who cooperate by sharing identical benefits can combat cheaters by giving preferential treatment to their relatives (a process known as kin discrimination) or by staying close to the relatives to form clusters (kin fidelity). However, two genetically-unrelated populations that mutually cooperate by sharing different benefits cannot employ these methods to overcome cheaters. Instead they rely on either partner choice or partner fidelity feedback. Partner choice – the approach adopted by cleaner fish and their hosts – relies on one population recognizing a signal from the other population and responding accordingly: for example, large fish observe cleaner fish and approach those that cooperate with their current host and avoid those that cheat. Partner fidelity feedback, on the other hand, relies on repeated interactions between the two populations providing an advantage in terms of evolutionary fitness to both: for example, organelles called mitochondria and chloroplasts live inside cells, helping the cells to harvest energy and providing energy for themselves and the host cells in the process. In some cases – such as the cooperation between figs and fig wasps, or between certain plants and the bacteria that fix nitrogen in their roots – researchers cannot agree if the populations are relying on partner choice or partner fidelity feedback. Now Momeni et al. have used a combination of experiments on yeast and mathematical modeling to explore partner fidelity feedback in greater detail. They started by using genetic engineering techniques to produce two species of yeast that mutually cooperate, each providing a metabolite that is essential to the other, but are not able to recognize each other: this means that these populations cannot rely on partner choice to combat cheaters. Momeni et al. then observed how these two species interacted with each other and a third species of yeast that cheated by consuming one of the metabolites without releasing any metabolite of its own. Momeni et al. found that as long as there was space for the yeast cells to grow into, the two species that cooperated self-organized into mixed clusters, with the cheating species being excluded from these clusters. The self-organization was driven by a positive feedback loop involving the two species that cooperated, with each species helping to increase the fitness of the other. The results of Momeni et al. demonstrate that it is possible for two genetically unrelated populations to cooperate and combat cheaters without the use of partner choice. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00960.002
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Affiliation(s)
- Babak Momeni
- Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, United States
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Odling-Smee J, Erwin DH, Palkovacs EP, Feldman MW, Laland KN. Niche construction theory: a practical guide for ecologists. QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 2013; 88:4-28. [PMID: 23653966 DOI: 10.1086/669266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 269] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Niche construction theory (NCT) explicitly recognizes environmental modication by organisms ("niche construction") and their legacy overtime ("ecological inheritance") to be evolutionary processes in their own right. Here we illustrate how niche construction theory provides usedl conceptual tools and theoretical insights for integrating ecosystem ecology and evolutionary theory. We begin by briefly describing NCT, and illustrating how it deifers from conventional evolutionary approaches. We then distinguish between two aspects ofniche construction--environment alteration and subsequent evolution in response to constructed environments--equating the first of these with "ecosystem engineering." We describe some of the ecological and evolutionary impacts on ecosystems of niche construction, ecosystem engineering and ecological inheritance, and illustrate how these processes trigger ecological and evolutionary feedbacks and leave detectable ecological signatures that are open to investigation. FIinally, we provide a practical guide to how NCT could be deployed by ecologists and evolutionary biologists to aeplore ecoeoolutionay dynamics. We suggest that, by highlighting the ecological and evolutionay ramifications of changes that organisms bring about in ecosystems, NCT helps link ecosystem ecology to evolutionary biology, potentially leading to a deeper understanding of how ecosystems change over time.
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Broquet T, Viard F, Yearsley JM. GENETIC DRIFT AND COLLECTIVE DISPERSAL CAN RESULT IN CHAOTIC GENETIC PATCHINESS. Evolution 2013; 67:1660-75. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01826.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2012] [Accepted: 09/25/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Broquet
- CNRS, UMR 7144, Team Div & Co; Lab. Adaptation et Diversité en Milieu Marin; Station Biologique de Roscoff 29682 Roscoff France
- UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7144 AD2M; Station Biologique de Roscoff 29682 Roscoff France
| | - Frédérique Viard
- CNRS, UMR 7144, Team Div & Co; Lab. Adaptation et Diversité en Milieu Marin; Station Biologique de Roscoff 29682 Roscoff France
- UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7144 AD2M; Station Biologique de Roscoff 29682 Roscoff France
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Laland KN, Odling-Smee J, Hoppitt W, Uller T. More on how and why: a response to commentaries. BIOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY 2013; 28:793-810. [PMID: 23970808 DOI: 10.1007/s10539-012-9335-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2013] [Accepted: 04/24/2013] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
We are grateful to the commentators for taking the time to respond to our article. Too many interesting and important points have been raised for us to tackle them all in this response, and so in the below we have sought to draw out the major themes. These include problems with both the term 'ultimate causation' and the proximate-ultimate causation dichotomy more generally, clarification of the meaning of reciprocal causation, discussion of issues related to the nature of development and phenotypic plasticity and their roles in evolution, and consideration of the need for an extended evolutionary synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin N Laland
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
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Rodrigues AMM, Gardner A. Evolution of Helping and Harming in Viscous Populations When Group Size Varies. Am Nat 2013; 181:609-22. [DOI: 10.1086/670031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Vitalis R, Rousset F, Kobayashi Y, Olivieri I, Gandon S. The joint evolution of dispersal and dormancy in a metapopulation with local extinctions and kin competition. Evolution 2013; 67:1676-91. [PMID: 23730761 DOI: 10.1111/evo.12069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2012] [Accepted: 01/17/2013] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Dispersal and dormancy are two strategies that allow recolonization of empty patches and escape from kin competition. Because they presumably respond to similar evolutionary forces, it is tempting to consider that these strategies may substitute for each other. Yet in order to predict the outcome of the evolution of dispersal and dormancy, and to characterize the emerging covariation between both traits, it is necessary to consider models where dispersal and dormancy evolve jointly. Here, we analyze the evolution of dispersal and dormancy as a function of direct fitness costs, environmental variation, and competition among relatives. We consider two scenarios depending on whether the rates of dormancy for philopatric and dispersed individuals are constrained to be the same (unconditional dormancy) or allowed to be different (conditional dormancy). We show that only philopatric individuals should enter dormancy, at a rate increasing with increasing rates of local extinction and decreasing population sizes. When dormancy and dispersal evolve jointly, we observe a wide range of evolutionary outcomes. In particular, we find that the pattern of covariation between the evolutionarily stable rates of dispersal and dormancy is molded by the rate of extinction and the local population size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renaud Vitalis
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution, UMR 5554, CNRS, Université Montpellier 2, Montpellier cedex 5, Place Eugène Bataillon, France.
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Reproductive skew can provide a net advantage in both conditional and unconditional social interactions. Theor Popul Biol 2012; 82:200-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2012.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2012] [Revised: 06/07/2012] [Accepted: 06/11/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Van Dyken JD, Wade MJ. Origins of altruism diversity II: Runaway coevolution of altruistic strategies via "reciprocal niche construction". Evolution 2012; 66:2498-513. [PMID: 22834748 PMCID: PMC3408633 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01629.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the evolution of altruism requires knowledge of both its constraints and its drivers. Here we show that, paradoxically, ecological constraints on altruism may ultimately be its strongest driver. We construct a two-trait, coevolutionary adaptive dynamics model of social evolution in a genetically structured population with local resource competition. The intensity of local resource competition, which influences the direction and strength of social selection and which is typically treated as a static parameter, is here allowed to be an evolvable trait. Evolution of survival/fecundity altruism, which requires weak local competition, increases local competition as it evolves, creating negative environmental feedback that ultimately inhibits its further evolutionary advance. Alternatively, evolution of resource-based altruism, which requires strong local competition, weakens local competition as it evolves, also ultimately causing its own evolution to stall. When evolving independently, these altruistic strategies are intrinsically self-limiting. However, the coexistence of these two altruism types transforms the negative ecoevolutionary feedback generated by each strategy on itself into positive feedback on the other, allowing the presence of one trait to drive the evolution of the other. We call this feedback conversion "reciprocal niche construction." In the absence of constraints, this process leads to runaway coevolution of altruism types. We discuss applications to the origins and evolution of eusociality, division of labor, the inordinate ecological success of eusocial species, and the interaction between technology and demography in human evolution. Our theory suggests that the evolution of extreme sociality may often be an autocatalytic process.
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Van Dyken JD, Wade MJ. Origins of altruism diversity I: The diverse ecological roles of altruistic strategies and their evolutionary responses to local competition. Evolution 2012; 66:2484-97. [PMID: 22834747 PMCID: PMC3408632 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01630.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Nature abounds with a rich variety of altruistic strategies, including public resource enhancement, resource provisioning, communal foraging, alarm calling, and nest defense. Yet, despite their vastly different ecological roles, current theory typically treats diverse altruistic traits as being favored under the same general conditions. Here, we introduce greater ecological realism into social evolution theory and find evidence of at least four distinct modes of altruism. Contrary to existing theory, we find that altruistic traits contributing to "resource-enhancement" (e.g., siderophore production, provisioning, agriculture) and "resource-efficiency" (e.g., pack hunting, communication) are most strongly favored when there is strong local competition. These resource-based modes of helping are "K-strategies" that increase a social group's growth yield, and should characterize species with scarce resources and/or high local crowding caused by low mortality, high fecundity, and/or mortality occurring late in the process of resource-acquisition. The opposite conditions, namely weak local competition (abundant resource, low crowding), favor survival (e.g., nest defense) and fecundity (e.g., nurse workers) altruism, which are "r-strategies" that increase a social group's growth rate. We find that survival altruism is uniquely favored by a novel evolutionary force that we call "sunk cost selection." Sunk cost selection favors helping that prevents resources from being wasted on individuals destined to die before reproduction. Our results contribute to explaining the observed natural diversity of altruistic strategies, reveal the necessary connection between the evolution and the ecology of sociality, and correct the widespread but inaccurate view that local competition uniformly impedes the evolution of altruism.
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