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Dispersal : a central and independent trait in life history Universiteit Gent
Trait positions for elevated invasiveness in adaptive ecological networks KU Leuven
Our ability to predict the outcome of invasion declines rapidly as non-native species progress through intertwined ecological barriers to establish and spread in recipient ecosystems. This is largely due to the lack of systemic knowledge on key processes at play as species establish self-sustaining populations within the invaded range. To address this knowledge gap, we present a mathematical model that captures the eco-evolutionary dynamics of ...
Rapid evolution leads to differential population dynamics and top-down control in resurrected Daphnia populations KU Leuven
There is growing evidence of rapid genetic adaptation of natural populations to environmental change, opening the perspective that evolutionary trait change may subsequently impact ecological processes such as population dynamics, community composition, and ecosystem functioning. To study such eco-evolutionary feedbacks in natural populations, however, requires samples across time. Here, we capitalize on a resurrection ecology study that ...
Back to the Future: Reintegrating Biology to Understand How Past Eco-evolutionary Change Can Predict Future Outcomes KU Leuven
During the last few decades, biologists have made remarkable progress in understanding the fundamental processes that shape life. But despite the unprecedented level of knowledge now available, large gaps still remain in our understanding of the complex interplay of eco-evolutionary mechanisms across scales of life. Rapidly changing environments on Earth provide a pressing need to understand the potential implications of eco-evolutionary ...
Rapid evolution of hosts begets species diversity at the cost of intraspecific diversity KU Leuven
Ecosystems are complex food webs in which multiple species interact and ecological and evolutionary processes continuously shape populations and communities. Previous studies on eco-evolutionary dynamics have shown that the presence of intraspecific diversity affects community structure and function, and that eco-evolutionary feedback dynamics can be an important driver for its maintenance. Within communities, feedbacks are, however, often ...
Effects of evolution from strain to community level: an experimental study on bacterioplankton KU Leuven
My research focuses on how evolution and eco-evolutionary dynamics impact bacterioplankton strains and communities. Using isolates from freshwater ponds I explore ecological drivers and evolutionary potential of bacterioplankton using a well-balanced model system. I focus on bacterial adaptation imposed by environmental changes due to anthropogenic activities, more specifically urban heat island effect. Furthermore, I investigate whether ...
Dispersal syndromes in challenging environments: a cross‐species experiment Universiteit Gent
Dispersal is a central biological process tightly integrated into life-histories, morphology, physiology and behaviour. Such associations, or syndromes, are anticipated to impact the eco-evolutionary dynamics of spatially structured populations, and cascade into ecosystem processes. As for dispersal on its own, these syndromes are likely neither fixed nor random, but conditional on the experienced environment. We experimentally studied how ...
Urban evolution in the water flea Daphnia magna KU Leuven
Fast demographic growth, land use change and global warming have generated severe threats to biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems. Entire ecosystems are threatened and we are on the verge of a 6th biodiversity crisis, potentially resulting in regime shifts that may jeopardize ecosystem functions and services. Fast growing interconnected urban areas are hotspots of human activity, imposing selection pressures on their non-human ...
Eco-evolutionary partitioning metrics: a practical guide for biologists KU Leuven
© 2018, Societe Royale Zoologique de Belgique. All rights reserved. It is well-known that ecological and evolutionary processes can occur on similar time scales resulting in eco-evolutionary dynamics. One of the main questions in eco-evolutionary dynamics involves the assessment of the relative contribution of evolution, ecology and their interaction in the eco-evolutionary change under study. This has led to the development of several methods ...