Intraspecific Reaction Norm Variation Controls the Eco-Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Climate Change Research

Background:

• Global environmental change necessitates understanding organismal, species, and community responses.
• Eco-evolutionary dynamics are crucial for predicting ecological stability and adaptation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine collective organismal, species, and community responses to environmental change.
• To incorporate genotype-specific thermal reaction norms into an eco-evolutionary predator-prey model.
• To track simultaneous phenotypic, ecological, and evolutionary responses within ecological communities.

Main Methods:

• Developed an eco-evolutionary predator-prey model.
• Incorporated genotype-specific thermal reaction norms.
• Analyzed the influence of environmental (E), additive genetic (G), and gene-by-environment interaction (G×E) components on eco-evolutionary dynamics.

Main Results:

• Genotype-specific reaction norms dictate community shifts in eco-evolutionary outcomes with temperature changes.
• Different components of phenotypic variation in thermal reaction norms influence eco-evolutionary dynamics.
• Identified mechanisms linking reaction norm variation to adaptation and ecological stability.

Conclusions:

• Complex eco-evolutionary responses to environmental change arise from genotypic variation in reaction norms.
• Provides mechanistic insights into environmental impacts on adaptation and the maintenance of variation.
• Highlights the importance of reaction norms for predicting future eco-evolutionary effects of climate change.