Journal article
Go forth, evolve and prosper: the genetic basis of adaptive evolution in an invasive species
Molecular ecology, v 23(9), pp 2137-2140
May 2014
PMID: 24766629
Abstract
Invasive species stand accused of a familiar litany of offences, including displacing native species, disrupting ecological processes and causing billions of dollars in ecological damage (Cox ). Despite these transgressions, invasive species have at least one redeeming virtue - they offer us an unparalleled opportunity to investigate colonization and responses of populations to novel conditions in the invaded habitat (Elton ; Sakai etal. ). Invasive species are by definition colonists that have arrived and thrived in a new location. How they are able to thrive is of great interest, especially considering a paradox of invasion (Sax & Brown ): if many populations are locally adapted (Leimu & Fischer ), how could species introduced into new locations become so successful? One possibility is that populations adjust to the new conditions through plasticity - increasing production of allelopathic compounds (novel weapons), or taking advantage of new prey, for example. Alternatively, evolution could play a role, with the populations adapting to the novel conditions of the new habitat. There is increasing evidence, based on phenotypic data, for rapid adaptive evolution in invasive species (Franks etal. ; Colautti & Barrett ; Sultan etal. ). Prior studies have also demonstrated genetic changes in introduced populations using neutral markers, which generally do not provide information on adaptation. Thus, the genetic basis of adaptive evolution in invasive species has largely remained unknown. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Vandepitte etal. () provide some of the first evidence in invasive populations for molecular genetic changes directly linked to adaptation.
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Details
- Title
- Go forth, evolve and prosper: the genetic basis of adaptive evolution in an invasive species
- Creators
- Steven J. Franks - Fordham UniversityJason Munshi-South - Fordham University
- Publication Details
- Molecular ecology, v 23(9), pp 2137-2140
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 4
- Grant note
- 1142784 / Direct For Biological Sciences; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) 1142784 / Division Of Environmental Biology; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000334908100001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84899565348
- Other Identifier
- 991021903865404721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology