Measuring Coevolutionary Dynamics in Species-Rich Communities

Alex Hall, Ben Ashby, Jordi Bascompte, Kayla King

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

30 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Identifying different types of coevolutionary dynamics is important for understanding biodiversity and infectious disease. Past work has often focused on pairs of interacting species, but observations of extant communities suggest that coevolution in nature occurs in networks of antagonism and mutualism. We discuss challenges for measuring coevolutionary dynamics in species-rich communities, and we suggest ways that established approaches used for two-species interactions can be applied. We propose ways that such data can be complemented by genomic information and linked back to extant communities via network structure, and we suggest avenues for new theoretical work to strengthen these connections. Quantifying coevolution in species-rich communities has several potential benefits, such as identifying coevolutionary units within networks and uncovering coevolutionary interactions among pathogens of humans, livestock, and crops.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)539-550
Number of pages12
JournalTrends in Ecology & Evolution
Volume35
Issue number6
Early online date3 Mar 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Jun 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Angus Buckling, Jan Engelstädter, Alison Duncan, Hildegard Uecker, Christoph Vorburger, and Oliver Kaltz for discussion. A.H. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF; project 31003A_165803 ); J.B. acknowledges SNSF project 31003A_169671; B.A. was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council , UK (grant NE/N014979/1 ); and K.C.K. acknowledges support from the European Research Council ( COEVOPRO 802242 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)

Keywords

  • coevolution
  • community structure
  • ecological networks
  • fluctuating selection
  • time-shift

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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