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EVALUATING THE DYNAMICS OF COEVOLUTION AMONG GEOGRAPHICALLY STRUCTURED POPULATIONS
Author(s) -
Thompson John N.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/0012-9658(1997)078[1619:etdoca]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - coevolution , trait , ecology , biology , population , evolutionary biology , selection (genetic algorithm) , computer science , machine learning , sociology , demography , programming language
The geographic mosaic theory of coevolution suggests that reciprocal evolution involves three processes that operate among populations: selection mosaics, coevolutionary hotspots, and trait remixing. These processes, in turn, produce three patterns: population differences in traits favored by an interaction, a combination of trait matches and mismatches among populations, and few species‐level coevolved traits (i.e., coevolved traits that have spread to all populations). Here I show how studies of the interactions between the pollinating floral parasite Greya politella and its host plants provide evidence for most of the components of this view of the coevolutionary process, including indications of the ecological conditions that can prevent coevolutionary change. These studies are suggesting that the dynamics of coevolution in these interactions are interpretable only when analyzed over broad geographic scales.