Evolutionary Ecology

Evolutionary Ecology

A scientific field that explores how species adapt and evolve in response to their environment.

Evolution

can be viewed as genetic change over time or as a process of descent with modification.

Natural Selection

- Highlighted as the primary evolutionary mechanism that consistently causes adaptive evolution, improving an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce.

- Charles Darwin defined natural selection as the “principle by which each slight variation (of a trait), if useful, is preserved”

- Individuals best adapted to their environments are more likely to survive and reproduce

Rapid Adaptive Evolution

- Illustrates how rapid adaptive evolution can occur on a continental scale, as seen in soapberry bugs, through the formation of clines – patterns of change in a characteristics over a geographic region.

Ecological Interactions

These interactions, including those between organisms and their environment, drive adaptive evolution, emphasizing the importance of ecology in understanding natural selection.

Natural Selection

- The process through which species adapt to their environments, driving evolution by favoring traits that enhance survival and reproduction in specific conditions.

Charles Darwin

proposed that species could evolve from their ancestors over long periods of time through gradual changes.

Charles Darwin

proposed that species could evolve from their ancestors over long periods of time through gradual changes.

Speciation

Can occur through several geographic modes, including allopatric, peripatric, parapatric, and sympatric speciation.

TYPES OF SPECIATION

1. ALLOPATRIC

2. PERIPATRIC

3. SYMPATRIC

4. PARAPATRIC

ALLOPATRIC

happens when populations are geographically isolated from one another, leading to genetic divergence and reproductive isolation.

Allopatric

Something extrinsic to the organisms prevents two or more groups from mating with each other regularly, eventually causing that lineage to speciate.

Peripatetic

a form of allopatric speciation where new species evolve from a small, isolated subpopulation that colonizes a new habitat or niche within the same geographical area as the ancestral species.

SYMPATRIC

the evolution of a new species from a surviving ancestral species while both continue to inhabit the same geographic region.

PARAPATRIC

Two subpopulations of a species evolve reproductive isolation from one another while continuing to exchange genes

PARAPATRIC

Can occur due to environmental gradients that influence the development of different species in the same geographic region.