Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2025
07:44
Measuring Microbial Mutation Rates with the Fluctuation Assay
Published on: November 28, 2019
23.8K
Rate of environmental variation impacts the predictability in evolution
Diego Cirne1, Paulo R A Campos1
1Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 50740-560 Recife-PE, Brazil.
Physical Review. E
|January 21, 2023
Summary
Environmental changes challenge adaptive evolution. Slower environmental variation increases evolutionary predictability and repeatability, impacting population adaptation dynamics and outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Population Genetics
- Ecological Dynamics
Background:
- Understanding adaptive evolution in stable environments is advanced.
- Environmental changes pose challenges to predicting evolutionary adaptation.
- Time-varying fitness landscapes are poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the impact of environmental variation rate on evolutionary predictability.
- Quantify how environmental change speed affects evolutionary parallelism.
- Analyze the influence of ecological dynamics and genomic factors on adaptation.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the adaptive-walk approximation.
- Modeled evolutionary processes under varying environmental conditions.
- Assessed the influence of environmental variation rate on adaptive walk duration and repeatability.
Main Results:
- Environmental variation rate affects adaptive walk duration and repeatability of evolutionary paths.
- Slower environmental variation generally enhances evolutionary predictability.
- Ecological dynamics significantly influence the accessibility of evolutionary endpoints.
Conclusions:
- The speed of environmental change is a critical factor in evolutionary predictability.
- This study provides a predictive framework to quantify the impact of environmental variation on evolutionary parallelism.
- Findings highlight the importance of considering dynamic environments in evolutionary biology.
Related Concept Videos
01:09Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift
59.0K
In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).
59.0K
02:05Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
7.3K
The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
In contrast, regions which code...
In contrast, regions which code...
7.3K
01:07Speciation Rates
21.3K
Overview
21.3K
03:33Genetic Drift
40.3K
Natural selection—probably the most well-known evolutionary mechanism—increases the prevalence of traits that enhance survival and reproduction. However, evolution does not merely propagate favorable traits, nor does it always benefit populations.
40.3K
01:28Effect of Natural Selection on Phenotypes
Effect of Natural Selection on PhenotypesHave you ever wondered why some animals have spots, stripes, or specific colors? These visible traits, called phenotypes, are shaped by natural selection. A phenotype is how an organism's genes appear on the outside, like fur color, beak shape, or body size. When a phenotype helps an organism survive, like a rabbit’s white fur in the snow, natural selection favors that trait. Over time, helpful phenotypes become more common, while less useful traits...
02:55The Evidence for Evolution
43.2K
Genetic variations accumulating within populations over generations give rise to biological evolution. Evolutionary changes can result in the formation of novel varieties and entire new species. These changes are responsible for the diverse forms of life inhabiting the planet. The evidence for evolution suggests that all living organisms descended from common ancestors.
43.2K