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Evolutionary ecology lies at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology. It approaches the study of ecology in a way that explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and the interactions between them. Conversely, it can be seen as an approach to the study of evolution that incorporates an understanding of the interactions between the species under consideration. The main subfields of evolutionary ecology are life history evolution, sociobiology (the evolution of social behavior), the evolution of interspecific relations (cooperation, predator–prey interactions, parasitism, mutualism) and the evolution of biodiversity and of communities.

Pristine, natural environments that have been relatively unaltered by humans are of particular importance in evolutionary ecology because they constitute the environments to which any particular organism has become adapted to over time.^[1]

Evolutionary ecologists

• Charles Darwin (1809-1882), whose theory of natural selection is essential background to understanding evolutionary ecology and had explicitly include population dynamics;
• R. A. Fisher (1890-1962), whose 1930 fundamental theorem of natural selection recognised the power of rigorous application of the theory of natural selection to population biology.^[2]
• George Evelyn Hutchinson *(1903-1991), who is credited for bringing the realm of natural history into the field of science and considered by many to be the "Father of Modern Ecology.* ^[3]"
• David Lack (1910-1973), a devoted follower of Charles Darwin, worked to merge the fields of evolutionary biology and ecology, focusing mainly on birds and evolution.
• Robert MacArthur *(1930-1972), who worked during the 1960s to integrate genetics with population ecology and community ecology to earn the title of one of the founders of evolutionary ecology.* ^[4]
• Eric Pianka *(1939-present), who is most well-known for his work in Africa studying the general community ecology of reptiles and whose work has also had an impact on resource partitioning in ectotherms*.^[5]
• Michael Rosenzweig *(1941-present), a professor of ecology at Arizona State University who introduced the theory of Reconciliation ecology, which suggests that the redesign of habitats can stop the reduction of species diversity.* ^[6]
• Thierry Lodé *(1956-present), a French ecologist whose work focused on how sexual conflict in populations of species impacts evolution.* ^[7][8]

Evolutionary models

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A large part of Evolutionary ecology is about utilising models and finding empirical data as proof.^[9] Examples include the Lack clutch size model devised by David Lack *and his study of Darwin's finches on the Galapagos Islands. Lack's study of Darwin's finches was important in analyzing the role of different ecological factors in speciation. Lack suggested that differences in species were adaptive and produced by natural selection, based on the assertion by G.F. Gause that two species cannot occupy the same niche.*^[10].

Richard Levins introduced his model of the specialization of species in 1968, *which investigated how habitat specialization evolved within heterogeneous environments using the fitness sets an organism or species possesses. This model developed the concept of spatial scales in specific environments, defining fine-grained spatial scales and coarse-grained spatial scales.* ^[11] *The implications of this model include a rapid increase in environmental ecologists' understanding of how spatial scales impact species diversity in a certain environment.* ^[12]

Another model is Law & Diekmann's 1996 models on mutualism, *which is defined as a relationship between two organisms that benefits both individuals*.^[13] *Law and Diekmann developed a framework called adaptive dynamics, which assumes that changes in plant or animal populations in response to a disturbance or lack thereof occurs at a faster rate than mutations occur. It is aimed to simplify other models addressing the relationships within communities.* ^[14]

Evolutionary ecology in research

*Rosenzweig's idea of Reconciliation ecology was developed based on existing research, which was conducted on the principle first suggested by Alexander von Humboldt stating that larger areas of land will have increased species diversity as compared to smaller areas. This research focused on species-area relationships (SPARs) and the different scales on which they exist, ranging from sample-area to interprovincial SPARs. Steady-state dynamics in diversity gave rise to these SPARs, which are now used to measure the reduction of species diversity on Earth. In response to this decline in diversity, Rosenzweig's Reconciliation ecology was born.* [15]

*Evolutionary ecology has been studied using symbiotic relationships between organisms to determine the evolutionary forces by which such relationships develop. In symbiotic relationships, the symbiont must confer some advantage to its host in order to persist and continue to be evolutionarily viable. Research has been conducted using aphids and the symbiotic bacteria with which they coevolve. These bacteria are most frequently conserved from generation to generation, displaying high levels of vertical transmission. Results have shown that these symbiotic bacteria ultimately confer some resistance to parasites to their host aphids, which both increases the fitness of the aphids and lead to symbiont-mediated coevolution between the species.* [16]

See also

• Wikipedia:USEP/Courses/Behavioral Ecology (Joan Strassmann)
• [ Evolutionary Ecology (Thierry Lodé)]

Other references

• Fox, C.W., Roff, D.A. and Fairbairn, D.J. 2001. Evolutionary Ecology: Concepts and Case Studies. Oxford University Press.
• Mayhew, P.J. 2006. Discovering Evolutionary Ecology: Bringing Together Ecology and Evolution. Oxford University Press.
• Pianka, E.R. 2000. Evolutionary Ecology, 6th ed. Benjamin Cummings.

References

External links

• Evolutionary Ecology Research - a journal in the field.
• Methods in Ecology and Evolution - a journal in the field.
• Ecology and Evolution - Wiley
• Evolutionary Ecology - Springer