Conceptual Breakthroughs in Evolutionary Ecology

By Laurence Mueller

Although biologists recognize evolutionary ecology by name, many only have a limited understanding of its conceptual roots and historical development. Conceptual Breakthroughs in Evolutionary Ecology fills that knowledge gap in a thought-provoking and readable format.

Written by a world-renowned evolutionary ecologist, this book embodies a unique blend of expertise in combining theory and experiment, population genetics and ecology. Following an easily-accessible structure, this book encapsulates and chronologizes the history behind evolutionary ecology. It also focuses on the integration of age-structure and density-dependent selection into an understanding of life-history evolution.

• Covers over 60 seminal breakthroughs and paradigm shifts in the field of evolutionary biology and ecology
• Modular format permits ready access to each described subject
• Historical overview of a field whose concepts are central to all of biology and relevant to a broad audience of biologists, science historians, and philosophers of science

• Language: English
• Publisher: Academic Press
• Release date: Nov 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9780128160145

Laurence Mueller

Laurence Mueller is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. His research includes the development of theoretical models to guide research and experimental evolutionary approaches to the study of adaptation. Dr. Mueller’s specific research interests include the evolution of life-history phenotypes at different population density and the evolution of population stability. More recently Dr. Mueller’s research has focused on the evolution of age-specific patterns of aging and physiological decline that occurs prior to death. He is the author of three books and over 120 research articles.

Book preview

Conceptual Breakthroughs in Evolutionary Ecology

Laurence Mueller

Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Comments from the Series Editor, John C. Avise

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter One. 1859 And in the beginning

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Two. 1894 Measuring selection in nature

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 5

Chapter Three. 1920 A theory of density-dependent population growth is formulated

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Four. 1928 Selection in age-structured populations

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Five. 1930 The fundamental theorem of natural selection

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Six. 1930 Evolution of mimicry

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Seven. 1930 Fluctuation in numbers and genotypes

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 6

Chapter Eight. 1934 Competitive exclusion

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Nine. 1940 The common garden experiment

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Ten. 1943 Seasonal changes of gene regions in natural populations

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 7

Chapter Eleven. 1947 The role of phenotypic plasticity as an agent for adaptation to variable environments is proposed

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 6

Chapter Twelve. 1947 Measuring selection and drift in a natural population

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Thirteen. 1954 Cole's paradox

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 6

Chapter Fourteen. 1954 Lack's principle

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 7

Chapter Fifteen. 1956 Character displacement

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 7

Chapter Sixteen. 1958 Niche partitioning by warbler birds

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Seventeen. 1961 Population regulation and genetic feedbacks

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 5

Chapter Eighteen. 1962 Ecological measures of fitness

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Nineteen. 1962 Group selection

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 5

Chapter Twenty. 1964 Community evolution

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Twenty One. 1964 Kin selection and the evolution of social behavior

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Twenty Two. 1965 Evolution of phenotypic plasticity in plants

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 6

Chapter Twenty Three. 1965 Fitness estimation

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Twenty Four. 1966 The concept of energetic trade-offs

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Twenty Five. 1966 Evolution of demographic parameters

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Twenty Six. 1966 Optimal foraging based on time and energy

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Twenty Seven. 1966 Evolution of a plant animal mutualism

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Twenty Eight. 1967 Evolution following colonization

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Twenty Nine. 1968 Cole's paradox resolved by environmental variation

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Thirty. 1968 Evolution in changing environments

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Thirty One. 1969 The polygyny threshold model

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 7

Chapter Thirty Two. 1970 Reproductive effort and the life history schedule

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 7

Chapter Thirty Three. 1970 The price equation

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Thirty Four. 1971 Population genetic theory of density-dependent natural selection

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Thirty Five. 1971 The evolution of heavy metal tolerance

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Thirty Six. 1973 The red queen hypothesis

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 5

Chapter Thirty Seven. 1973 The evolution of melanism

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Thirty Eight. 1975 Sex and evolution

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Thirty Nine. 1975 Genetics of mimicry

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Forty. 1976 Evolution of resource partitioning

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Forty One. 1977 Life history theory challanged

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 5

Chapter Forty Two. 1977 Natural selection favors reduced variance in fitness

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Forty Three. 1978 Maintenance of protein polymorphisms in a variable environment

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Forty Four. 1979 A critique of the adaptationist program

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Forty Five. 1980 Evolution of philopatry

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 6

Chapter Forty Six. 1981 Testing density-dependent naural selection

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Forty Seven. 1981 Evolution of population stability: Theory

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 7

Chapter Forty Eight. 1982 Life history evolution in nature

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Forty Nine. 1982 Evolution of virulence

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 7

Chapter Fifty. 1984 Evolution of age-specific patterns of survival and fecundity

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Fifty One. 1985 Evolution of phenotypic plasticity theory

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 7

Chapter Fifty Two. 1985 Coevolution of bacteria and phage

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Fifty Three. 1986 Evolution of Darwin’s finches

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Fifty Four. 1986 Evolution across three trophic levels

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Fifty Five. 1988 Evolution of competitive ability

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Fifty Six. 1990 A predator-prey arms race

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 7

Chapter Fifty Seven. 1990 Reproductive effort and the balance between egg number and egg size

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Fifty Eight. 1991 Experimental evolution of cooperation

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 10

Chapter Fifty Nine. 1994 Experimental test of the role of natural selection in the process of character displacement

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Sixty. 1994 The geographic mosaic theory of coevolution

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 9

Chapter Sixty One. 1996 Community evolution due to indirect effects

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 6

Chapter Sixty Two. 1996 Tests of adaptive phenotypic plasticity in plants

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Sixty Three. 1997 Evolution of species′ range – theory

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Sixty Four. 2000 Evolution of population stability: Experiments

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 8

Chapter Sixty Five. 2004 Coevolution over space and time

The concept

The explanation

Impact: 7

Epilogue

Appendix

Index

Comments from the Series Editor, John C. Avise

The Conceptual Breakthroughs (CB) series of books by Elsevier aims to provide panoramic overviews of various scientific fields by encapsulating and rating each discipline's major historical achievements in an illuminating chronological format. Each volume in the CB series is authored by a world-leading expert who offers his or her personal insights on the major conceptual breakthroughs that have propelled a field forward to its current state of understanding. Intended for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, professionals, and interested laypersons, the dozens of essays in each CB book recount how and when a recognizable discipline achieved major advances along its developmental pathway, thereby offering readers a pithy historical account of how that field came to be what it is today.

This is the third volume in the CB series—all written in the same concise style and format—and all intended for an intellectually curious audience ranging from laypersons and beginning students to advanced practitioners. The first two books in the CB series were as follows:

Conceptual Breakthroughs in Evolutionary Genetics by John C. Avise (2014).

Conceptual Breakthroughs in Ethology and Animal Behavior by Michael D. Breed (2017).

Copyright

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Notices

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-12-816013-8

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Dedication

To my wonderful wife, Carol Joy Krieks, and daughters, Adrienne and Aellana.

Introduction

The field of evolutionary ecology is relatively new. Of course, the important role of an organism's ecology in the outcome of evolutionary change was recognized by Darwin (Chapter 1). But the modern development of evolutionary ecology as a separate field is much more recent. For me a seminal paper that set in-motion the development of evolutionary ecology as an important discipline was MacArthur's 1962 paper (Chapter 18) on density-dependent population growth and fitness. Certainly, by the 1970's the field was in full bloom. In 1987 the journal Evolutionary Ecology published its first edition.

Identifying research that belongs exclusively to evolutionary ecology as opposed to simply evolution or ecology requires at some point a subjective analysis. In this book I have primarily focused on research that has well defined elements of both ecology and evolution. However, as a means of background development some chapters that are basically ecological in flavor (Chapters 3 and 8) and some others that are largely evolutionary (Chapter 4).

The subjective meter is elevated another notch when deciding what constitutes a breakthrough. Citations are certainly a useful objective measure but are affected by research intensity in different fields. Review articles are often heavily cited but don't necessarily contain new results that would be considered breakthroughs. However, there are exceptions like Stearn's very thoughtful review and synthesis of life-history research in 1977 (Chapter 41). Some papers like Norton's work on selection in age-structured populations (Chapter 4) were well ahead of their time and haven't received the attention they deserve.

Another issue is the relative value of theory vs. experiments. Since my own research has involved both theory and experiments, I don't feel I have a natural bias toward one or the other. It certainly is the case that evolutionary ecology as a field has plenty of theory, not all of it terribly helpful. In many fields, like genetics, critical experiments take on much more value than theory. For instance, we are all familiar with the classical experiment by Avery et al. (1944) which established that DNA not proteins or lipids was the hereditary material. However, there is little notice of the first person to suggest that DNA might be the hereditary material. I do consider critical experimental tests as extremely important, especially for a field in which difficult-to-test theories abound. However, this book has certainly recognized many of the important contributions of theory to the development of ideas and experiments in evolutionary ecology. I also include a number of laboratory experiments that I think have been especially useful in forming our understanding of evolutionary ecology principles. I have previously commented on the roles of experiments vs. studies of natural populations (Mueller and Joshi, 2000, Chapter 1) and won't review those issues here.

The area inviting the author's subjectivity is the inclusion of a paradigm-shift score, which was started in the first volume in this series (Avise, 2014). Here the goal is to assign some level of importance for each breakthrough. This includes many aspects of the works long-term influence, the breadth of the works impact and for theories the extent to which they have been supported by empirical work. By the time I was finished writing I realized that rather than use the entire impact scale of 1 through 10, as Avise (2014) and Breed (2017) had done, my scores were only in the range 5–10. I found it hard to give any work I felt deserved inclusion on this book the lowest scores. Alas, anyone unsatisfied with my apparent grade-inflation may convert one of my scores (m) to the Avise/Breed scale using the linear transformation, round{1   +   (9/5)(m   −   5)}, where "round{}" implies rounding off a fraction to the nearest integer.

Having pled guilty to allowing some subjectivity into my own analysis of the work included in this book, let me offer all the outstanding evolutionary ecologists whose work I have overlooked, my sincere apologies.

Finally, I would like to thank John Avise, John Thompson, Joe Travis, and David Reznick for helpful suggestions and discussions about their own views of what are the important contributions to evolutionary ecology.

References

Avery O.T, MacCeod C.M, McCarty M. Studies of the chemical nature of the substance inducing transformation of pneumococcal types.  J. Expt. Med.  1944;79:137–158.

Avise J.C.  Conceptual Breakthroughs in Evolutionary Genetics . San Diego: Academic Press; 2014.

Breed M.D.  Conceptual Breakthroughs in Ethology and Animal Behavior . San Diego: Academic Press; 2017.

Mueller L.D, Joshi A. Stability in Model Populations.  Monographs in Population Biology . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2000.

Chapter One

1859 And in the beginning

Abstract

There can be no serious discussion of evolutionary ecology without a reference to Charles Darwin and his revolutionary theory of evolution by natural selection. These ideas were originally laid out in his book On the origin of species (Darwin, 1859). Darwin insightfully recognized how the physical and biological environment will interact with variation within species to produce adaptations that permit organismal survival in those environments. Indeed, much of the focus of evolutionary ecology has been the detailing of how those interactions have proceeded and molded important physiological, morphological, and life historical traits of organisms.

Keywords

Adaptation; Darwin; Evolution; Gemmules; Selection; Struggle for existence

The concept

There can be no serious discussion of evolutionary ecology without a reference to Charles Darwin and his revolutionary theory of evolution by natural selection. These ideas were originally laid out in his book On the origin of species (Darwin, 1859). Darwin insightfully recognized how the physical and biological environment will interact with variation within species to produce adaptations that permit organismal survival in those environments. Indeed, much of the focus of evolutionary ecology has been the detailing of how those interactions have proceeded and molded important physiological, morphological, and life historical traits of organisms.

The explanation

Darwin's writing was simple yet precise and his keen insights about the impact of the effects of local ecology can best be explained through his own words. His idea was that