Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics

by

Luc De Meester, Lynn Govaert, Seth Rudman, Mark Urban

• LAST MODIFIED: 17 April 2025
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199941728-0157

Introduction

In this article, concepts and literature are introduced that focus on the dynamic interaction between ecology and evolution. By eco-evolutionary dynamics, we here refer to the broad field of research on how ecology impacts evolutionary dynamics and evolution impacts ecological dynamics, with an emphasis on the latter, as this is the aspect that was for a long time under-appreciated. These dynamics require relevant evolutionary changes to occur at similar temporal and spatial scales as ecological changes and influence traits that affect ecological processes and dynamics. Rapid evolution is therefore core to eco-evolutionary dynamics. In what follows, we introduce the concept of rapid evolution, cover its brief history, discuss definitions of eco-evolutionary dynamics, and provide key literature examples of evolution affecting population, community, and ecosystem ecology. We devote special attention to some aspects that have been studied less, such as the importance of space and spatial scaling together with the temporal dimension, the importance to consider the full spectrum of species interactions, and the need to include the full dimensionality of the ecological arena in eco-evolutionary dynamics studies (e.g., multiple species, natural settings) as they may in important ways constrain eco-evolutionary dynamics. We highlight how genomic tools and the underlying genomic architecture can contribute to the study of eco-evolutionary dynamics. This chapter focuses on eco-evolutionary dynamics that are intrinsically linked to ecological processes and relationships of organisms to the environment, and does not focus on co-evolution.

A Historical Perspective on the Rate of Evolution

Since its original description, evolution (i.e., change in gene frequencies) was usually considered to be a slow and gradual process. Darwin 1859 stated that because natural selection acts solely by accumulating slight, successive, favorable variations, it can produce no great or sudden modification and can act only by very short and slow steps. The slow and gradual process of evolution was incorporated into the classical theory of evolution, and empirical evidence generally focused on evolution at time scales longer than many ecological processes (e.g., adaptive radiation or mutation-limited evolution in taxa with longer generation times). Haldane 1956 and Haldane 1957, for example, concluded that rapid evolution could be considered rare due to the negative impact of natural selection on population growth rate and the constraining effect of genetic covariation. Some years later, Slobodkin 1961 argued that the time scale on which evolutionary and ecological processes occur differs by orders of magnitude. “Ecological” time scales were seen as periods over which populations could sustain a steady state (c. ten generations), whereas “evolutionary” times scales were to be on the order of half a million years. The assumed distinction between these two time scales resulted in ecologists and evolutionary biologists taking a reductionist approach, i.e., ecology kept evolution simple by assuming no evolutionary change, while evolution kept ecology simple by assuming ecological equilibrium. Concurrently, gene flow was expected to generally maintain species coherence and prevent population differentiation, except at large geographic scales (Wright 1969). This gene flow assumption was paired with the assumption that natural selection was generally weak in nature and evolution was largely driven by shifts at neutral loci (Kimura 1983).

• Darwin C. 1859. On the origin of species by means of natural selection. London: Murray.

  Book by Charles Darwin providing a foundation for evolutionary biology introducing evolution through the process of natural selection.

• Haldane, J. B. S. 1956. The relation between density regulation and natural selection. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B-Biological Sciences 145.920: 306–308.

  Influential paper on density-independent and density-dependent factors on selection.

• Haldane, J. B. S. 1957. The cost of natural selection. Journal of Genetics 55:511–524.

  DOI: 10.1007/BF02984069

  Paper arguing for an upper limit on the rate of adaptation.

• Kimura, M. 1983. The neutral theory of molecular evolution. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.

  DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511623486

  Influential monograph on the neutral theory of molecular evolution.

• Slobodkin, L. B. 1961. Preliminary ideas for a predictive theory of ecology. The American Naturalist 95.882: 147–153.

  DOI: 10.1086/282172

  Influential paper emphasizing distinctive time scales of ecological (c. ten generations) and evolutionary (half a million years) processes.

• Wright, S. 1969. Evolution and the genetics of populations. Vol. 2, The theory of gene frequencies. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

  Highly influential book by Sewall Wright presenting a mathematical theory of gene frequency changes in populations.