Emergence of evolutionarily stable communities through eco-evolutionary tunnelling

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Theoretical Biology

Background:

• Ecological and evolutionary dynamics are interconnected, with mutations influencing ecological states and vice versa.
• Evolutionary game theory and adaptive dynamics model this interplay, assuming rare mutations for ecological equilibration.
• A key question is whether frequent mutations introduce novel evolutionary phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate adaptive diversification under frequent mutation rates.
• To explore the emergence of complex evolutionarily stable states (ESS) when mutations are not rare.
• To identify new mechanisms for evolutionary community structuring.

Main Methods:

• Development of a theoretical framework for adaptive diversification with frequent mutations.
• Analysis of collective state tunneling as a mechanism for community evolution.
• Mathematical modeling of mutation rates and population size effects on ESS emergence.

Main Results:

• A novel adaptive diversification process robustly generates complex ESS.
• Communities evolve through collective state tunneling, a process enhanced by high mutation rates.
• Emergence of ESS communities is generic in large populations but unlikely in small ones.
• These communities can spread spatially as competitive replication units.

Conclusions:

• Frequent mutations can lead to complex evolutionary structures not reachable by step-by-step evolution.
• Collective state tunneling provides a new mechanism for adaptive diversification.
• Population size critically influences the emergence of complex ESS through this frequent mutation pathway.