MSGID: 1:317/3 647eb68d   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    The other side of the story: How evolution impacts the environment   
      
      
     Date:   
         June 5, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Rhode Island   
     Summary:   
         Researchers show that an evolutionary change in the length of   
         lizards' legs can have a significant impact on vegetation growth   
         and spider populations on small islands in the Bahamas. This is   
         one of the first times, the researchers say, that such dramatic   
         evolution-to-environment effects have been documented in a natural   
         setting.   
      
      
         Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   The story of the peppered moths is a textbook evolutionary tale. As coal   
   smoke darkened tree bark near England's cities during the Industrial   
   Revolution, white-bodied peppered moths became conspicuous targets for   
   predators and their numbers quickly dwindled. Meanwhile, black-bodied   
   moths, which had been rare, thrived and became dominant in their newly   
   darkened environment.   
      
   The peppered moths became a classic example of how environmental change   
   drives species evolution. But in recent years, scientists have begun   
   thinking about the inverse process. Might there be a feedback loop in   
   which species evolution drives ecological change? Now, a new study by   
   researchers at the University of Rhode Island shows some of the best   
   evidence yet for that very phenomenon.   
      
   In research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of   
   Sciences, the researchers show that an evolutionary change in the   
   length of lizards' legs can have a significant impact on vegetation   
   growth and spider populations on small islands in the Bahamas. This   
   is one of the first times, the researchers say, that such dramatic   
   evolution-to-environment effects have been documented in a natural   
   setting.   
      
   "The idea here is that, in addition to the environment shaping the traits   
   of organisms through evolution, those trait changes should feed back   
   and drive changes in predator-prey relationships and other ecological   
   interactions between species," said Jason Kolbe, a professor of biological   
   sciences at the University of Rhode Island and one of the study's senior   
   authors. "And we really need to understand how those dynamics work so   
   we can make predictions about how populations are going to persist, and   
   what sort of ecological changes might result."  For the last 20 years,   
   Kolbe and his colleagues have been observing the evolutionary dynamics of   
   anole lizard populations on a chain of tiny islands in the Bahamas. The   
   chain is made up of around 40 islands ranging from a few dozen to a   
   few hundred meters in area -- small enough that the researchers can   
   keep close tabs on the lizards living there. And the islands are far   
   enough apart that lizards can't easily hop from one island to another,   
   so distinct populations can be isolated from each other.   
      
   Previous research had shown that brown anoles adapt quickly to the   
   characteristics of surrounding vegetation. In habitats where the diameter   
   of brush and tree limbs is smaller, natural selection favors lizards   
   with shorter legs, which enable individuals to move more quickly when   
   escaping predators or chasing a snack. In contrast, lankier lizards tend   
   to fare better where the tree and plant limbs are thicker. Researchers   
   have shown that this limb length trait can evolve quickly in brown anoles   
   -- in just a few generations.   
      
   For this new study, Kolbe and his team wanted to see how this evolved   
   limb- length trait might affect the ecosystems on the tiny Bahamian   
   islands. The idea was to separate short- and long-legged lizards on   
   islands of their own, then look for differences in how the lizard   
   populations affect the ecology of their island homes.   
      
   Armed with specialized lizard wrangling gear -- poles with tiny lassos   
   made of dental floss at the end -- the team captured hundreds of brown   
   anoles. They then measured the leg length of each lizard, keeping the   
   ones whose limbs were either especially long or especially short and   
   returning the rest to the wild.   
      
   Once they had distinct populations of short- and long-limbed lizards,   
   they set each population free on islands that previously had no lizards   
   living on them.   
      
   Since the experimental islands were mostly covered by smaller diameter   
   vegetation, the researchers expected that the short-legged lizards   
   would be better adapted to that environment, that is, more maneuverable   
   and better able to catch prey in the trees and brush. The question the   
   researchers wanted to answer was whether the ecological effects of those   
   highly effective hunters could be detected.   
      
   After eight months, the researchers checked back on the islands to look   
   for ecological differences between islands stocked with the short- and   
   long-legged groups. The differences, it turned out, were substantial. On   
   islands with shorter-legged lizards, populations of web spiders -- a key   
   prey item for brown anoles -- were reduced by 41% compared to islands   
   with lanky lizards. There were significant differences in plant growth as   
   well. Because the short-legged lizards were better at preying on insect   
   herbivores, plants flourished. On islands with short-legged lizards,   
   buttonwood trees had twice as much shoot growth compared to trees on   
   islands with long-legged lizards, the researchers found.   
      
   The results, Kolbe says, help to bring the interaction between ecology   
   and evolution full circle.   
      
   "These findings help us to close that feedback loop," Kolbe said. "We   
   knew from previous research that ecological factors shape limb length,   
   and now we show the reciprocal relationship of that evolutionary change   
   on the environment."  Understanding the full scope of interactions between   
   evolution and ecology will be helpful in predicting environments outcomes,   
   the researchers say - - particularly as human activities accelerate the   
   pace of both evolutionary and ecological change worldwide.   
      
   The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (DMS-1716803   
   and DEB-2012985).   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Nature # Frogs_and_Reptiles # Evolutionary_Biology   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Ecology # Environmental_Issues # Environmental_Awareness   
             o Fossils_&_Ruins   
                   # Evolution # Charles_Darwin # Early_Humans   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Lizard o Evolution o Yellow_sac_spider o Hydroponics o   
             Green_Iguana o Brown_recluse_spider o Wild_Cat o Ecotourism   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Rhode_Island. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Jason J. Kolbe, Sean T. Giery, Oriol Lapiedra, Kelsey P. Lyberger,   
         Jessica N. Pita-Aquino, Haley A. Moniz, Manuel Leal, David   
         A. Spiller, Jonathan B. Losos, Thomas W. Schoener, Jonah   
         Piovia-Scott. Experimentally simulating the evolution-to-ecology   
         connection: Divergent predator morphologies alter natural food   
         webs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2023; 120   
         (24) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2221691120   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230605181213.htm   
      
   --- up 1 year, 14 weeks, 10 hours, 51 minutes   
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)   
   SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 153/7715 218/700 226/30 227/114   
   SEEN-BY: 229/110 112 113 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 291/111 292/854   
   SEEN-BY: 298/25 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45   
   PATH: 317/3 229/426