Rapid evolution drives ecological dynamics in a predator–prey system

@article{Yoshida2003RapidED,
  title={Rapid evolution drives ecological dynamics in a predator–prey system},
  author={Takehito Yoshida and Laura E. Jones and Stephen P. Ellner and Gregor F. Fussmann and Nelson G. Hairston},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2003},
  volume={424},
  pages={303-306}
}
Ecological and evolutionary dynamics can occur on similar timescales. However, theoretical predictions of how rapid evolution can affect ecological dynamics are inconclusive and often depend on untested model assumptions. Here we report that rapid prey evolution in response to oscillating predator density affects predator–prey (rotifer–algal) cycles in laboratory microcosms. Our experiments tested explicit predictions from a model for our system that allows prey evolution. We verified the… 
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Light is shed on the adaptive value of colony formation and the general view that genetic diversity and intraspecific trait variation of prey can play a vital role in the short-term dynamics and stability of planktonic predator-prey systems is supported.
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Investigating changes in predator traits after ~600 generations in a predator-prey (ciliate-bacteria) coevolutionary experiment shows that in coevolving systems, predator adaptation can occur in traits relevant to offense level without translating into an increased ability of the predator to grow on the ancestral prey type.
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The results suggest that in either situation, the resulting evolutionary patterns may lead to dramatic and important changes in ecological effect size, and this work found that the presence of predators corresponded with evolution of smaller cell size and increased population growth rate.
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It is believed that studying predator-prey interactions under an eco-evolutionary lens can provide insights into how general and, consequently, predictable species' evolutionary responses are to their contemporary environments.
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Environmental fluctuations restrict eco-evolutionary dynamics in predator–prey system
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The rate of evolution of a defence trait was significantly lower in fluctuating environments compared with stable environments, and that the defence trait evolved to lower levels when two environmental stressors changed recurrently, which suggests that top-down and bottom-up changes can have additive effects constraining evolutionary response within populations.
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