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Spatial storage effect facilitates evolutionary rescue in rapidly changing environments.

Eve Nancy Rowland1, Davorka Gulisija1,2

  • 1Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, United States.

Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution
|September 30, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The storage effect, a mechanism for genetic diversity, can help small, fluctuating populations persist in changing environments. This finding expands conditions for evolutionary rescue and population survival.

Keywords:
balanced polymorphismeco-evolutionary dynamicsevolutionary rescuerapid evolutionspatial storage effecttemporally varying environments

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Population Genetics

Background:

  • The storage effect is a proposed mechanism for maintaining genetic diversity in fluctuating environments.
  • Balanced polymorphism may be crucial for evolutionary rescue, aiding population persistence.
  • Its applicability to small, variable-sized populations is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if the spatial storage effect emerges in small, variable-sized populations.
  • To determine if this mechanism facilitates evolutionary rescue in heterogeneous, temporally varying environments.
  • To explore the influence of various environmental and demographic factors on the storage effect and rescue.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized an eco-evolutionary model simulating logistic population growth.
  • Examined populations in heterogeneous, temporally varying environments with migration.
  • Varied parameters including environmental fluctuation magnitude/period, habitat harshness, migration rates, and spatial heterogeneity.

Main Results:

  • The spatial storage effect was observed to emerge in the modeled populations.
  • This mechanism significantly increased population persistence in harsh, fluctuating environments.
  • Results indicate enhanced survival beyond predictions without the storage effect.

Conclusions:

  • The storage effect can operate and promote persistence in small, variable populations.
  • This mechanism broadens the conditions under which populations can persist despite rapid environmental change.
  • Eco-evolutionary dynamics, including the storage effect, are vital for understanding population resilience.