Contemporary evolution
Contemporary evolution or rapid evolution is defined as evolutionary changes that occur over short time frames.[1] Evolution has traditionally been viewed as a slow process that acts over very long timescales (e.g., millions of years).[2] In the book "On the Origin of Species" published in 1859, Charles Darwin emphasized that evolutionary change was slow and not visible. At the time of the publication of the Origin[3], the bulk of the evidence in support of the theory of evolution by natural selection was found in the Fossil record and on volcanic islands such as the Galápagos Islands. This idea led to the belief that changes in a population's heritable characteristics could not happen within a human's lifespan, thus a person could not directly observe the evolutionary process.[2] Advances in science and technology have allowed scientists to develop new methods and approaches for studying evolutionary change, which have revealed the potential for rapid evolution over short timescales.[1][4][5]
Empirical evidence
There are an increasing number of studies reporting rapid evolutionary changes in natural populations of both plants and animals.[6][7][8]
Peppered Moth in England
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One of the most well-known examples of contemporary evolution is the industrial melanism of the peppered moth (Biston betularia), which is still recognized today in existing Lepidoptera collections.[9] The moth's "typical" coloration is the lighter, pale gray form, which under normal conditions confers higher survival as a form of camouflage in the lichen on the trees. The moth's melanic (darker) phenotype was first observed in 1848, and this variant rapidly increased in frequency throughout England, a phenomenon that was attributed to the Industrial Revolution: the pollution generated from coal burning killed the lichens and made the trunks darker.[10] This conferred a disadvantage to the light-colored morph which was subject to predation by birds. The single mutation that resulted in the dark coloration gave individuals a higher survival and was favored by natural selection. In the 1960s, the melanic morph started to decline, which was attributed to the decrease in air pollution caused by a decrease in coal burning.[11]
Guppies in Trinidad
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Another example of rapid evolution comes from research on guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in Trinidad by David Reznick and collaborators.[12][13][14] Waterfalls in Trinidad separate guppies into populations that experience different selection pressures, allowing scientists to test for the effect of predation on the life history of these animals. According to life history theory, guppies in high-predation localities are expected to reproduce earlier in life and invest in more offspring. On the other hand, low-predation localities are expected to have a higher density of guppies, leading to increased intraspecific competition for food.
Reznick and collaborators performed manipulative experiments and switched the guppy's environment, placing individuals from a high-predation stream into a low-predation stream.[15] Predators were also added to a stream in which there were previously no large predators, increasing the mortality rate in that environment. Male and female life history traits changed dramatically within four to seven years, respectively.[2] The observed evolutionary changes concurred with the prediction of evolutionary theory: The high-predation population that was introduced into a low-predation stream reached sexual maturity later and showed reduced investment in their offspring. In contrast, in the stream to which predators were added, guppies matured earlier and invested more in their offspring.[15] The rate of evolution that Reznick estimated for his experiment was ca. 10,000 to 10 million times faster than what researchers at that time considered possible based on the fossil record.[2]
Applications to conservation biology
Contemporary species face a variety of novel selection conditions caused by human activities, such as rapid climate change, overharvesting, habitat degradation, and the introduction of Introduced species.[16] These factors have received considerable attention from conservation biologists; however, they also have the potential to promote rapid evolutionary change. For example, studies have shown that plant species have evolved tolerance to metals as a response to exposure to contaminated soils, such as mine waste piles.[17][18]
While restoration ecology research often excludes evolutionary measures from their aims and measurement of success, contemporary evolution is frequently linked to circumstances that are prevalent in restoration areas, including the existence of human-induced disturbances and introduced populations.[19]
An important concept that links rapid evolution to conservation biology is that of evolutionary rescue: the process by which a population avoids extinction by undergoing rapid evolutionary changes that allow it to adapt to new or changing environmental conditions. The possibility of evolutionary rescue has become a focus of several conservation biology studies.[20][21]
Although typically viewed as a positive mechanism in conservation biology, rapid evolution is also responsible for the resistance and persistence of deleterious bacteria and insects that pose a threat to the health of animal species and agricultural crops.[21]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Stockwell, Craig A.; Hendry, Andrew P.; Kinnison, Michael T. (2003-02-01). "Contemporary evolution meets conservation biology". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 18 (2): 94–101. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(02)00044-7. ISSN 0169-5347.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Reznick, David N. (2011-10-17). The Origin Then and Now: An Interpretive Guide to the Origin of Species. Princeton University Press. doi:10.1515/9781400833573. ISBN 978-1-4008-3357-3. Search this book on
- ↑ Darwin, Charles; Murray, John (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or, The preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.82303. Search this book on
- ↑ Hendry, Andrew P.; Wenburg, John K.; Bentzen, Paul; Volk, Eric C.; Quinn, Thomas P. (2000-10-20). "Rapid Evolution of Reproductive Isolation in the Wild: Evidence from Introduced Salmon". Science. 290 (5491): 516–518. Bibcode:2000Sci...290..516H. doi:10.1126/science.290.5491.516. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 11039932.
- ↑ Alberti, Marina; Correa, Cristian; Marzluff, John M.; Hendry, Andrew P.; Palkovacs, Eric P.; Gotanda, Kiyoko M.; Hunt, Victoria M.; Apgar, Travis M.; Zhou, Yuyu (2017-01-03). "Global urban signatures of phenotypic change in animal and plant populations". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (34): 8951–8956. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.8951A. doi:10.1073/pnas.1606034114. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 5576774. PMID 28049817.
- ↑ Bone, Elizabeth; Farres, Agnes (2001), "Trends and rates of microevolution in plants", Microevolution Rate, Pattern, Process, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 165–182, doi:10.1007/978-94-010-0585-2_11, ISBN 978-94-010-3889-8, retrieved 2023-03-25
- ↑ Grant, Peter R.; Grant, B. Rosemary (2002-04-26). "Unpredictable Evolution in a 30-Year Study of Darwin's Finches". Science. 296 (5568): 707–711. Bibcode:2002Sci...296..707G. doi:10.1126/science.1070315. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 11976447. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ Stockwell, Craig A.; Weeks, Stephen C. (May 1999). "Translocations and rapid evolutionary responses in recently established populations of western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis)". Animal Conservation. 2 (2): 103–110. Bibcode:1999AnCon...2..103S. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.1999.tb00055.x. ISSN 1367-9430. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ Evolution (Fifth ed.). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 26 July 2023. ISBN 978-0-19-761962-9. Search this book on
- ↑ Melanism: Evolution in Action. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. 1998-04-09. ISBN 978-0-19-854982-6. Search this book on
- ↑ Majerus, Michael E. N. (2009-03-01). "Industrial Melanism in the Peppered Moth, Biston betularia: An Excellent Teaching Example of Darwinian Evolution in Action". Evolution: Education and Outreach. 2 (1): 63–74. doi:10.1007/s12052-008-0107-y. ISSN 1936-6434. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ Reznick, David (1982). "The Impact of Predation on Life History Evolution in Trinidadian Guppies: Genetic Basis of Observed Life History Patterns". Evolution. 36 (6): 1236–1250. doi:10.2307/2408156. ISSN 0014-3820. JSTOR 2408156. PMID 28563575.
- ↑ Reznick, David N.; Ghalambor, Cameron K.; Crooks, Kevin (January 2008). "Experimental studies of evolution in guppies: a model for understanding the evolutionary consequences of predator removal in natural communities". Molecular Ecology. 17 (1): 97–107. Bibcode:2008MolEc..17...97R. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03474.x. PMID 17725576. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ Reznick, David N.; Shaw, Frank H.; Rodd, F. Helen; Shaw, Ruth G. (1997-03-28). "Evaluation of the Rate of Evolution in Natural Populations of Guppies ( Poecilia reticulata )". Science. 275 (5308): 1934–1937. doi:10.1126/science.275.5308.1934. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 9072971. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ 15.0 15.1 Reznick, David; Butler IV, Mark J.; Rodd, Helen (February 2001). "Life-History Evolution in Guppies. VII. The Comparative Ecology of High- and Low-Predation Environments". The American Naturalist. 157 (2): 126–140. doi:10.1086/318627. ISSN 0003-0147. PMID 18707267. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ Western, David; Pearl, Mary C. (1992). Conservation for the twenty-first century. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507719-9. OCLC 36202742. Search this book on
- ↑ Macnair, Mark R. (1987-12-01). "Heavy metal tolerance in plants: A model evolutionary system". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 2 (12): 354–359. doi:10.1016/0169-5347(87)90135-2. ISSN 0169-5347. PMID 21227880.
- ↑ Bone, Elizabeth; Farres, Agnes (2001), "Trends and rates of microevolution in plants", Microevolution Rate, Pattern, Process, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 112-113, pp. 165–182, doi:10.1007/978-94-010-0585-2_11, ISBN 978-94-010-3889-8, PMID 11838764, retrieved 2023-05-02
- ↑ Stockwell, Craig A.; Kinnison, Michael T.; Hendry, Andrew P.; Hamilton, Jill A. (2016), "Evolutionary Restoration Ecology", Foundations of Restoration Ecology, Washington, DC: Island Press/Center for Resource Economics, pp. 427–454, doi:10.5822/978-1-61091-698-1_15, ISBN 978-1-61091-828-2, retrieved 2023-05-02
- ↑ Parmesan, Camille (2006-12-01). "Ecological and Evolutionary Responses to Recent Climate Change". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 37 (1): 637–669. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.37.091305.110100. ISSN 1543-592X.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Carlson, Stephanie M.; Cunningham, Curry J.; Westley, Peter A. H. (2014-09-01). "Evolutionary rescue in a changing world". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 29 (9): 521–530. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2014.06.005. ISSN 0169-5347. PMID 25038023.
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