Adaptation to Marginal Habitats

The ability to adapt to marginal habitats, in which survival and reproduction are initially poor, plays a crucial role in the evolution of ecological niches and species ranges. Adaptation to marginal habitats may be limited by genetic, developmental, and functional constraints, but also by consequen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics evolution, and systematics, 2008-01, Vol.39 (1), p.321-342
Main Author: Kawecki, Tadeusz J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleles
Animal and plant ecology
Animal populations
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological adaptation
Biological and medical sciences
Evolution
Evolutionary biology
Evolutionary genetics
Extinction
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gene flow
General aspects
Genetic variation
Genetics
Habitats
Phenotypic traits
Population genetics
Species
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Summary:The ability to adapt to marginal habitats, in which survival and reproduction are initially poor, plays a crucial role in the evolution of ecological niches and species ranges. Adaptation to marginal habitats may be limited by genetic, developmental, and functional constraints, but also by consequences of demographic characteristics of marginal populations. Marginal populations are often sparse, fragmented, prone to local extinctions, or are demographic sinks subject to high immigration from high-quality core habitats. This makes them demographically and genetically dependent on core habitats and prone to gene flow counteracting local selection. Theoretical and empirical research in the past decade has advanced our understanding of conditions that favor adaptation to marginal habitats despite those limitations. This review is an attempt at synthesis of those developments and of the emerging conceptual framework.
ISSN:1543-592X
1545-2069
DOI:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.38.091206.095622