Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics in Species Interactions
Summary
Eco-evolutionary dynamics describe the intertwined processes by which ecological interactions modulate evolutionary change and vice versa. These dynamics emerge when rapid shifts in species traits influence population demography, community composition and ecosystem functioning within ecological timescales. Reciprocal selective pressures—such as predation, competition or mutualism—can drive trait divergence or convergence, reshaping species networks and stabilising or destabilising complex communities. Understanding these feedbacks is critical to predict responses to environmental change, as evolutionary adaptation may buffer or amplify ecological shifts. Recent advances in both experimental and theoretical approaches have revealed that eco-evolutionary feedback loops operate across microbial, plant and animal systems, with broad implications for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Experimental work on a compost microbial community demonstrated that local adaptation of a single bacterial species can reshape community structure to the same degree as its mere presence, even under additional selection by bacteriophages. Evolution over ecological timescales altered species abundances and ecosystem functioning following temperature perturbation, highlighting how rapid genetic change can drive community assembly. In parallel, theoretical deconstruction of predator–prey coevolution revealed the mechanisms underlying population cycles: synchrony between prey biomass and defensive trait dynamics determines whether populations exhibit antiphase or quarter-lag oscillations. This unified framework reconciles previous empirical and modelling predictions and offers a mechanistic basis for eco-evolutionary feedbacks in antagonistic interactions.
Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics in Species Interactions publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in eco-evolutionary dynamics in species interactions across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Eco-evolutionary dynamics: Reciprocal interactions between ecological processes and evolutionary changes within and among species.
Coevolution: Reciprocal evolutionary change in interacting species driven by natural selection.
Eco-evolutionary feedback: Cyclical influence where ecological changes alter evolutionary trajectories, which in turn affect ecological interactions.
Phenotypic plasticity: The capacity of an organism to alter its traits in response to environmental conditions.
Community composition: The identity and relative abundance of species within a biological community.
References
- Local adaptation of a bacterium is as important as its presence in structuring a natural microbial community. Nature Communications (2016).
- Disentangling eco-evolutionary dynamics of predator-prey coevolution: the case of antiphase cycles. Scientific Reports (2017).
- Localized coevolution between microbial predator and prey alters community-wide gene expression and ecosystem function. The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology (2023).
- Predation drives complex eco-evolutionary dynamics in sexually selected traits. PLOS Biology (2023).
- Analysing eco‐evolutionary dynamics—The challenging complexity of the real world. Functional Ecology (2019).
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