Assessing the evolutionary persistence of ecological relationships: A review and preview

[Display omitted] •Ecological interactions such as parasitism, pollination, and predation are central to functioning ecosystems.•The origins and durability of such interactions merit study but evidence is often lacking.•Comparative Demography elucidates long-term species interactions by comparing hi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infection, genetics and evolution genetics and evolution, 2020-10, Vol.84, p.104441-104441, Article 104441
Main Authors: Hecht, Luke B.B., Thompson, Peter C., Rosenthal, Benjamin M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
anthropocene
Biological Evolution
bottleneck
comparative demography
ecology
Ecosystem
effective population size
evolution
Genomics
history
Host-Parasite Interactions
Humans
parasitism
pollination
population
PSMC
Review
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Summary:[Display omitted] •Ecological interactions such as parasitism, pollination, and predation are central to functioning ecosystems.•The origins and durability of such interactions merit study but evidence is often lacking.•Comparative Demography elucidates long-term species interactions by comparing histories of population growth and contraction.•The method has broad application and untapped potential. Species interactions, such as pollination, parasitism and predation, form the basis of functioning ecosystems. The origins and resilience of such interactions therefore merit attention. However, fossils only occasionally document ancient interactions, and phylogenetic methods are blind to recent interactions. Is there some other way to track shared species experiences? “Comparative demography” examines when pairs of species jointly thrived or declined. By forging links between ecology, epidemiology, and evolutionary biology, this method sheds light on biological adaptation, species resilience, and ecosystem health. Here, we describe how this method works, discuss examples, and suggest future directions in hopes of inspiring interest, imitators, and critics.
ISSN:1567-1348
1567-7257
DOI:10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104441