Eco-evolutionary dynamics
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It is now widely recognized that substantial evolutionary change can occur on contemporary (or “ecological”) time scales.
This is the phenomenon of contemporary (or “rapid”) evolution.
What we now need to know is the extent to which contemporary evolution shapes ecological dynamics at the population, community, and ecosystem levels.
I will outline a conceptual framework for these eco-evolutionary dynamics and illustrate its elements through a series of empirical examples from natural populations.
These examples will be also be used to address several key questions in this emerging synthetic research field.
I will close by providing a set of predictions for when evolution should have important influences on ecological dynamics.
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