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Bridging the gap between ecology and evolution: integrating density regulation and life‐history evolution
Author(s) -
Bassar Ronald D.,
LópezSepulcre Andrés,
Walsh Matthew R.,
Turcotte Martin M.,
TorresMejia Mauricio,
Reznick David N.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05706.x
Subject(s) - life history theory , ecology , evolutionary ecology , population , life history , variety (cybernetics) , evolutionary biology , density dependence , biology , bridging (networking) , computer science , demography , sociology , artificial intelligence , computer network , host (biology)
Early demographic models of life‐history evolution were formulated in a density‐independent framework and saw extrinsic sources of mortality, such as predation, as the primary driving force that shaped the evolution of life‐history traits. The evidence for density dependence in nature motivated theoreticians to build models that incorporated population regulation. These later generations of models acknowledge that demographic mechanisms of population regulation and extrinsic mortality interact with one another and predict a wide variety of life‐history responses. Such ecologically realistic models require knowledge of the demographic traits and life‐stages most affected by density. Despite the vast empirical literature characterizing population regulation, and a wealth of methods to analyze it, such mechanistic understanding is rare. Ecological experiments whereby density is manipulated can be a powerful tool to disentangle the life‐history determinants of population regulation. Here we review published density‐manipulation experiments and highlight how they can be coupled with existing analytical tools to extract the mechanistic information needed for evolutionary models of life histories.