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Does relaxed predation drive phenotypic divergence among insular populations?

A Runemark1, M Brydegaard, E I Svensson

  • 1Evolutionary Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.

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Summary

Island lizards exhibit reduced escape behavior and increased body size due to relaxed predation. This predation release drives significant divergence in body size and coloration, impacting both trait means and variances in island populations.

Keywords:
Podarcisantipredator defencebody sizecolorationcrypsislizardspopulation divergencevariance

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Island biogeography
  • Ecology

Background:

  • Island ecosystems often exhibit unique evolutionary patterns, including striking phenotypic changes.
  • The ecological drivers of body size evolution on islands remain incompletely understood.
  • Predation release on islands is hypothesized to influence prey escape behavior, body size, and coloration.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of predation release on phenotypic and behavioral divergence in island lizard populations.
  • To test predictions of altered escape propensity, body size, and dorsal coloration in insular versus mainland populations.
  • To examine how predation release affects both the average traits and the variation within and between populations.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative study of spatially replicated islet and mainland populations of the lizard Podarcis gaigeae.
  • Behavioral observations to quantify escape distances from approaching observers.
  • Morphometric measurements to assess body size.
  • Color analysis to evaluate dorsal coloration and habitat matching.

Main Results:

  • Islet lizards demonstrated reduced escape distances compared to mainland lizards.
  • Lizards on islets were significantly larger in body size than their mainland counterparts.
  • Island populations showed greater variation in body size and more divergent dorsal coloration than mainland populations.
  • Islet lizards exhibited poorer matching of dorsal coloration to their respective habitats.

Conclusions:

  • Predation release on islets has driven significant population divergence in phenotypic and behavioral traits.
  • Relaxed predation pressure influences both the average expression and the variance of traits.
  • Predation release is a key ecological factor contributing to body size divergence in island lizards.