Quantifying nonadditive selection caused by indirect ecological effects

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Population Genetics

Background:

• Species interactions are fundamental to natural biological communities.
• Multiple species interactions can generate indirect ecological effects.
• These indirect effects can lead to nonadditive patterns of natural selection with significant fitness consequences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for quantifying nonadditive selection arising from indirect ecological effects.
• To compare the strength of nonadditive selection to pairwise selection.
• To assess the impact of nonadditive selection on adaptation in multispecies communities.

Main Methods:

• Description of a quantitative method to assess nonadditive selection.
• Testing the method using two empirical case studies.
• Utilizing trait-based approaches and multifactorial experiments.

Main Results:

• Indirect ecological effects are likely a common driver of nonadditive selection in nature.
• The developed method allows for the estimation of nonadditive selection's relative strength.
• Case studies demonstrate the applicability of the method to real-world ecological data.

Conclusions:

• Nonadditive selection stemming from indirect ecological effects may be prevalent in natural communities.
• Quantifying these effects is vital for a comprehensive understanding of community evolution.
• Further research using trait-based and experimental approaches is encouraged to reveal the importance of indirect effects on evolution.