The Effect of Social Determinants of Health on Clinical Recovery Following Concussion: A Systematic Review.

CONTEXT: Concussion evaluations include a multifaceted approach; however, individual differences can influence test score interpretations and validity. Social determinants of health (SDoH) differentially affect disease risk and outcomes based upon social and environmental characteristics. Efforts to better define, diagnose, manage, and treat concussion have increased, but minimal efforts have focused on examining SDoH that may affect concussion recovery. OBJECTIVE: This review examined previous research that examined the effect of SDoH on concussion recovery of athletes. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and SPORTDiscus databases were used to search the terms "concussion" AND "recovery," "youth, adolescent, teen and/or adult," and "social determinants of health" and variations of these terms. The evidence level for each study was evaluated using the 2011 Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine Guide. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Seven thousand nine hundred and twenty-one articles were identified and screened for inclusion. Five studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. Using the Downs and Black Quality Index, the studies included in this review were deemed high quality. CONCLUSION: Though limited literature exists, there is preliminary evidence to suggest that SDoH (specifically, economic stability, education access and quality, and social and community context) may have an impact on the clinical recovery from concussion. The dimensions evaluated varied between studies and the results were inconsistent. No single factor consistently affected clinical recovery; however, private insurance and race appear to have an association with the speed of recovery. Unfortunately, the potential intersection of these variables and other preinjury factors limits the ability to make clear recommendations. While most of the studies in this review are retrospective in nature, future efforts should focus on training clinicians to prospectively evaluate the effect of SDoH on concussion recovery and injury outcomes. Funding and registration for this systematic review were not obtained nor required.

Community Contexts and Utilization of Early Childhood Care and Education among Mexican-Origin Children.

Children of Mexican origin are under-enrolled in early childhood education programs relative to Black and White children, which is problematic given the potential benefits of early childhood education. o better understand this under-enrollment in ways that can inform efforts to change it in the future, this study examined how utilization of early care and education programs varied among Mexican-origin families according to the community contexts where they lived. Integrating data on Mexican-origin children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- Birth Cohort (n = 1,100) with community data from the U.S. Census Bureau, logistic regressions revealed that the odds of enrollment in early care and education programs among Mexican-origin children increased as the supply of childcare centers in their counties increased. Holding childcare center supply constant, their enrollment also increased as the percent of co-ethnic Latinos/as in the county increased, especially for children from the least acculturated Mexican-origin families. Overall, these results suggest that ethnic enclaves might link Mexican-origin families to early childhood care and education programs for their children and that this role might be most important for families least likely to be connected to U.S. institutions.

Fathers' Migration and Nutritional Status of Children in India: Do the Effects Vary by Community Context?

BACKGROUND: Due to international and internal migration, millions of children in developing countries are geographically separated from one or both of their parents. Prior research has not reached a consensus on the impacts of parental out-migration on children's growth, and little is known about how community contexts modify the impact of parental out-migration. OBJECTIVE: We aim to assess the overall impacts of fathers' previous and current migration experiences on children's nutritional status in India and how the impacts are shaped by community socioeconomic contexts and community gender norms. METHODS: Using data from the Indian Human Development Survey collected in 2011-2012, we estimated community fixed-effect regression models predicting the nutritional status of children (ages 10-15) and examined the interactions among fathers' migration, child's gender, and community contexts. RESULTS: The results showed that children of returned migrants had lower height and Body Mass Index (BMI) than children of non-migrants. Fathers' current absence was associated with lower height and BMI for adolescents in communities with high levels of socioeconomic development but not for those in communities with low levels of development. Fathers' current absence due to migration was especially harmful for girls in communities with strict norms of female seclusion. CONTRIBUTION: Our findings highlight that the effects of father's out-migration on children are conditioned by the level of communities' socioeconomic development and community gender contexts, which helps to reconcile the previously mixed findings on the effects of parental migration on child outcomes.

Drought and increased CO2 alter floral visual and olfactory traits with context-dependent effects on pollinator visitation.

Climate change can alter species interactions essential for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem function, such as pollination. Understanding the interactive effects of multiple abiotic conditions on floral traits and pollinator visitation are important to anticipate the implications of climate change on pollinator services. Floral visual and olfactory traits were measured from individuals of four forb species subjected to drought or normal water availability, and elevated or ambient concentrations of CO2 in a factorial design. Pollinator visitation rates and community composition were observed in single-species and multi-species forb assemblages. Drought decreased floral visual traits and pollinator visitation rates but increased volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, whereas elevated CO2 positively affected floral visual traits, VOC emissions and pollinator visitation rates. There was little evidence of interactive effects of drought and CO2 on floral traits and pollinator visitation. Interestingly, the effects of climate treatments on pollinator visitation depended on whether plants were in single- or multi-species assemblages. Components of climate change altered floral traits and pollinator visitation, but effects were modulated by plant community context. Investigating the response of floral traits, including VOCs, and context-dependency of pollinator attraction provides additional insights and may aid in understanding the overall effects of climate change on plant-pollinator interactions.

Challenges to aging in place for African American older adults living with dementia and their families.

A culturally informed community health assessment was conducted to explore the community context of care for older adults in African American urban neighborhoods. The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges to aging in place for African American older adults living with dementia and their family members. Data collection and analysis were conducted as concurrent iterative procedures between photographs, media clippings, semi-structured interviews (N = 24), observation notes, and journaling. Content analysis revealed shame, improper housing, financial constraints, resource inadequacy, transportation concerns, and knowledge deficit as common challenges faced by the older adults and their families to receiving health services to support aging in place within urban neighborhoods. Data from this report are to inform clinicians, community partners, families, and service organizations, to promote uptake of future research and programing to improve outcomes for African American older adults living with dementia and their family members.

The effects of genome duplications in a community context.

Contents 57 I. 57 II. 59 III. 59 IV. 63 V. 64 VI. 64 VII. 66 66 References 66 SUMMARY: Whole-genome duplication (WGD), or polyploidy, has important effects on the genotype and phenotype of plants, potentially altering ecological interactions with other organisms. Even though the connections between polyploidy and species interactions have been recognized for some time, we are only just beginning to test whether WGD affects community context. Here I review the sparse information on polyploidy and community context and then present a set of hypotheses for future work. Thus far, community-level studies of polyploids suggest an array of outcomes, from no changes in community context to shifts in the abundance and composition of interacting species. I propose a number of mechanisms for how WGD could alter community context and how the emergence of polyploids in populations could also alter the community context of parental diploids and other plant species. Resolving how and when these changes are expected to occur will require a deeper understanding of the connections among WGD, phenotypic changes, and the direct and indirect effects of species interactions.

Caterpillar seed predators mediate shifts in selection on flowering phenology in their host plant.

Variation in selection among populations and years has important implications for evolutionary trajectories of populations. Yet, the agents of selection causing this variation have rarely been identified. Selection on the time of reproduction within a season in plants might differ both among populations and among years, and selection can be mediated by both mutualists and antagonists. We investigated if differences in the direction of phenotypic selection on flowering phenology among 20 populations of Gentiana pneumonanthe during 2 yr were related to the presence of the butterfly seed predator Phengaris alcon, and if butterfly incidence was associated with the abundance of the butterfly's second host, Myrmica ants. In plant populations without the butterfly, phenotypic selection favored earlier flowering. In populations where the butterfly was present, caterpillars preferentially attacked early-flowering individuals, shifting the direction of selection to favoring later flowering. Butterfly incidence in plant populations increased with ant abundance. Our results demonstrate that antagonistic interactions can shift the direction of selection on flowering phenology, and suggest that such shifts might be associated with differences in the community context.

Exchange of Sex for Drugs or Money in Adolescents and Young Adults: An Examination of Sociodemographic Factors, HIV-Related Risk, and Community Context.

The goal of this research was to examine associations among sociodemographic factors, HIV risk, and community context (e.g., economic insecurity, job training, housing instability, crime victimization, and perceived community norms) in adolescents and young adults who ever exchanged sex for drugs or money. Anonymous survey data were collected using ACASIs at community venues where adolescents and young adults congregate in resource-challenged, STI prevalent, urban, US neighborhoods. Conventional descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact tests, and generalized estimating equations approaches were used to examine associations. Participants (1818, 95.5 % of those screened eligible) were, on average, aged 21.0 years; 42.2 % were males, and 4.6 % were transgender. Almost one-third (32.1 %) identified as gay or lesbian, 18.1 % identified as bisexual; 66.2 % were Black and 21.0 % were Hispanic; 1.3 % was 'living on the street'. A sizeable proportion reported HIV-related risk: 16.3 % exchanged sex, 12.6 % had sex with someone they knew to be HIV-infected, 7.8 % had sex with someone who injected drugs, and 1.3 % injected drugs. Multivariate comparisons identified a number of variables (e.g., being male or transgender, homelessness, sex with a partner who has HIV, STI history, unemployment, job training access, housing instability, crime victimization, perceived community norms) that were significantly associated with exchange of sex (p < 0.05). This research contributes to the knowledge-base regarding exchange of sex among adolescents and young adults, particularly as it relates to community context. Longitudinal studies to describe the trajectory of social, health, and physical risks and consequences are needed for development of effective evidence-based prevention strategies.

Association Between Community Contextual Factors and Stigma of Mental Illness in South Korea: a Multilevel Analysis.

This study examined the association of subjective and objective community contextual factors with stigma of mental illness in a sample of users of community mental health services centers in South Korea. Five hundred thirty-two persons with MI were surveyed on perceived stigma and experienced stigma, and on two subjective measures of community characteristics-perceived disorder and perceived collective efficacy of their neighborhood. Objective community indicators at the neighborhood level were collected from a government administrative data base. Multilevel statistical analysis was conducted to identify the effects of individual-level characteristics and community-level objective indicators on stigma. Perceived neighborhood disorder was associated with both perceived stigma and experienced stigma. Perceived collective efficacy was associated with perceived stigma but not experienced stigma. The proportion of persons with disabilities in the neighborhood, an objective community indicator, was associated with experienced stigma. Mental health practitioners and policy planners need to examine the relevance of neighborhood characteristics in the design of policy and practice interventions in order to enhance the social inclusion of persons with MI.

Sexual Violence in the Backlands: Toward a Macro-Level Understanding of Rural Sex Crimes.

This research focuses on structural covariates of sex crimes in rural communities (using urban and urbanizing communities as comparison groups), with particular analysis on exploring how the magnitude and direction of such covariates differ with respect to type of sex crime. Using 2000 sex crime data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for the population of reporting U.S. cities, negative binomial and logistic regression procedures were used to explore the relationship between resource disadvantage, local investment, and economic inequality and sex crime subtypes. For sex crimes that occurred almost exclusively in the home, urban and urbanizing community rates were largely influenced by resource disadvantage and local investment, while these measures did not reach significance for explaining rural rates. Conversely, local investment was a significant predictor of sex crimes that occurred outside the home in rural communities. This research indicates that a structural analysis of sexual victimization (widely absent from the scientific literature) does yield significant findings and that disaggregation of crime into subtypes allows for a more detailed differentiation between urban and rural communities.

How context dependent are species interactions?

The net effects of interspecific species interactions on individuals and populations vary in both sign (-, 0, +) and magnitude (strong to weak). Interaction outcomes are context-dependent when the sign and/or magnitude change as a function of the biotic or abiotic context. While context dependency appears to be common, its distribution in nature is poorly described. Here, we used meta-analysis to quantify variation in species interaction outcomes (competition, mutualism, or predation) for 247 published articles. Contrary to our expectations, variation in the magnitude of effect sizes did not differ among species interactions, and while mutualism was most likely to change sign across contexts (and predation least likely), mutualism did not strongly differ from competition. Both the magnitude and sign of species interactions varied the most along spatial and abiotic gradients, and least as a function of the presence/absence of a third species. However, the degree of context dependency across these context types was not consistent among mutualism, competition and predation studies. Surprisingly, study location and ecosystem type varied in the degree of context dependency, with laboratory studies showing the highest variation in outcomes. We urge that studying context dependency per se, rather than focusing only on mean outcomes, can provide a general method for describing patterns of variation in nature.

Floral polymorphism and the fitness implications of attracting pollinating and florivorous insects.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Floral polymorphism is frequently attributed to pollinator-mediated selection. Multiple studies, however, have revealed the importance of non-pollinating visitors in floral evolution. Using the polymorphic annual daisy Ursinia calenduliflora, this study investigated the importance of different insect visitors, and their effects on fitness, in the maintenance of floral polymorphism. METHODS: The spatial structure of a discrete floral polymorphism was characterized based on the presence/absence of anthocyanin floret spots in U. calenduliflora. A 3-year observational study was then conducted in polymorphic populations to investigate differences in visitation rates of dominant visitors to floral morphs. Experiments were performed to explore the floral preference of male and female Megapalpus capensis (the dominant insect visitor) and their effectiveness as pollinators. Next, floral damage by antagonistic florivores and the reproductive success of the two floral morphs were surveyed in multiple populations and years. KEY RESULTS: Floral polymorphism in U. calenduliflora was structured spatially, as were insect visitation patterns. Megapalpus capensis males were the dominant visitors and exhibited strong preference for the spotted morph in natural and experimental observations. While this may indicate potential fitness benefits for the spotted morph, female fitness did not differ between floral morphs. However, as M. capensis males are very efficient at exporting U. calenduliflora pollen, their preference may likely increase the reproductive fitness of the spotted morph through male fitness components. The spotted morph, however, also suffered significantly greater costs due to ovule predation by florivores than the spotless morph. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that pollinators and florivores may potentially exert antagonistic selection that could contribute to the maintenance of floral polymorphism across the range of U. calenduliflora. The relative strength of selection imposed by each agent is potentially determined by insect community composition and abundance at each site, highlighting the importance of community context in the evolution of floral phenotypes.

Community exposure to armed conflict and subsequent onset of alcohol use disorder.

AIMS: To measure the independent consequences of community-level armed conflict beatings on alcohol use disorders (AUD) among males in Nepal during and after the 2000-2006 conflict. DESIGN: A population-representative panel study from Nepal, with precise measures of community-level violent events and subsequent individual-level AUD in males. Females were not included because of low AUD prevalence. SETTING: Chitwan, Nepal. PARTICIPANTS: Four thousand eight hundred seventy-six males from 151 neighborhoods, systematically selected and representative of Western Chitwan. All residents aged 15-59 were eligible (response rate 93%). MEASUREMENTS: Measures of beatings in the community during the conflict (2000-2006), including the date and distance away, were gathered through neighborhood reports, geo-location and official resources, then linked to respondents' life histories of AUD (collected in 2016-2018) using the Nepal-specific Composite International Diagnostic Interview with life history calendar. Beatings nearby predict the subsequent onset of AUD during and after the armed conflict. Data were analyzed in 2021-2022. FINDINGS: Cohort-specific, discrete-time models revealed that within the youngest cohort (born 1992-2001), those living in neighborhoods where armed conflict beatings occurred were more likely to develop AUD compared with those in other neighborhoods (odds ratio = 1.66; 95% confidence interval = 1.02-2.71). In this cohort, a multilevel matching analysis designed to simulate a randomized trial showed the post-conflict incidence of AUD for those living in neighborhoods with any armed conflict beatings was 9.5% compared with 5.3% in the matched sample with no beatings. CONCLUSIONS: Among male children living in Chitwan, Nepal during the 2000-2006 armed conflict, living in a neighborhood where armed conflict beatings occurred is associated with increased odds of developing subsequent alcohol use disorder. This association was independent of personal exposure to beatings and other mental disorders.

Non-additive benefit or cost? Disentangling the indirect effects that occur when plants bearing extrafloral nectaries and honeydew-producing insects share exotic ant mutualists.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In complex communities, organisms often form mutualisms with multiple different partners simultaneously. Non-additive effects may emerge among species linked by these positive interactions. Ants commonly participate in mutualisms with both honeydew-producing insects (HPI) and their extrafloral nectary (EFN)-bearing host plants. Consequently, HPI and EFN-bearing plants may experience non-additive benefits or costs when these groups co-occur. The outcomes of these interactions are likely to be influenced by variation in preferences among ants for honeydew vs. nectar. In this study, a test was made for non-additive effects on HPI and EFN-bearing plants resulting from sharing exotic ant guards. Preferences of the dominant exotic ant species for nectar vs. honeydew resources were also examined. METHODS: Ant access, HPI and nectar availability were manipulated on the EFN-bearing shrub, Morinda citrifolia, and ant and HPI abundances, herbivory and plant growth were assessed. Ant-tending behaviours toward HPI across an experimental gradient of nectar availability were also tracked in order to investigate mechanisms underlying ant responses. KEY RESULTS: The dominant ant species, Anoplolepis gracilipes, differed from less invasive ants in response to multiple mutualists, with reductions in plot-wide abundances when nectar was reduced, but no response to HPI reduction. Conversely, at sites where A. gracilipes was absent or rare, abundances of less invasive ants increased when nectar was reduced, but declined when HPI were reduced. Non-additive benefits were found at sites dominated by A. gracilipes, but only for M. citrifolia plants. Responses of HPI at these sites supported predictions of the non-additive cost model. Interestingly, the opposite non-additive patterns emerged at sites dominated by other ants. CONCLUSIONS: It was demonstrated that strong non-additive benefits and costs can both occur when a plant and herbivore share mutualist partners. These findings suggest that broadening the community context of mutualism studies can reveal important non-additive effects and increase understanding of the dynamics of species interactions.

Community Violence Exposure and Stress Reactivity in African American and Non-Latino White Adolescents With Overweight/Obesity.

Adolescents who experience community violence are exposed to toxic stressors at a critical period of growth and development. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between community violence exposure and stress reactivity in African American and non-Latino white adolescents with overweight/obesity. Fifty-one adolescents (47% female, 55% African American; aged 14-19) participated in this study. Community violence was assessed using the Survey of Children's Exposure to Community Violence. Stress reactivity was assessed via salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase area under the curve (AUC) during a Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Race was a significant predictor of alpha-amylase reactivity (ß = 10740±3665, p = 0.0006), with a higher alpha-amylase AUC observed in African American compared to non-Latino white adolescents. There was also a significant difference in the relationship between community violence exposure and alpha-amylase AUC by race (ß = -3561±1226, p = 0.007). At similar increases in violence exposure, African Americans demonstrated a significant decline in alpha-amylase AUC while non-Latino whites demonstrated a significant increase in alpha-amylase AUC. Neither race nor violence exposure were significant predictors of cortisol AUC and there were no significant differences in the relationship between community violence exposure and cortisol AUC by race (all p's > .05). These preliminary findings suggest exposure to community violence may act to exacerbate autonomic dysregulation in African American adolescents with overweight/obesity. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the mechanisms by which community violence exposure differentially impacts stress responses by race.

Police Fatal Force and Crime Reporting: A Test of Community Responses to Fatal Police-Civilian Encounters.

Public perceptions of police legitimacy and effectiveness have been challenged by recent high-profile use of fatal force incidents by the police. Prior scholarship suggests that that controversial incidents involving police use of force can engender distrust of the police. Further, the neighborhood effects literature has demonstrated the importance of community context for police-community relationships and differential responses to controversial incidents by neighborhoods. The current study assesses how communities of varying racial compositions and levels of economic disadvantage respond to police fatal force incidents by assessing neighborhood crime reporting behaviors. Using monthly 911 call data from Los Angeles, CA neighborhoods, this study explores this relationship with a series of fixed effects negative binomial regression models that model police homicides and crime reporting over a seven-year time period. Comparisons between neighborhoods of varying racial/ethnic composition and structural conditions permit the comparison of differential responses across neighborhood context. The results indicate that neighborhood crime reporting decreases following fatal police use of force incidents. Further, these responses varied across neighborhood contexts. Predominately Hispanic neighborhoods experienced greater declines in crime reporting compared to predominately White neighborhoods. Neighborhoods characterized by high levels of concentrated disadvantaged also experienced greater reductions in crime reporting compared to their more advantaged counterparts. Utilization of the formal legal system can be challenged by controversial police incidents; however, these effects are dependent on neighborhood context. Future research should explore how spatial proximity and media portrayal of incidents influence community responses.

Addressing Youth-Focused Research Questions in a Community Context: Collecting and Integrating Mixed Methods Data at Multiple Ecological Levels with the PhotoStories Project.

Research seeking to understand and improve social conditions for marginalized youth would benefit from merging complex mixed methods research designs emphasizing multilevel data and participatory-social justice principles. We contribute to mixed methods research by introducing a multilevel, participatory-social justice mixed methods design that accomplishes this task and by illustrating its real-world application via PhotoStories, a multistage study aimed at understanding youths' community-based experiences and emotional well-being. During the project's three phases (preparation, training, and dissemination) we obtained and integrated quantitative and qualitative data at multiple ecological levels. Additionally, we examined youth perceptions about their participation, an important outcome given our participatory-social justice focus. We also provide lessons learned and recommendations for investigators seeking to use similar approaches for youth-focused research.

Association of Greenness with Blood Pressure among Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes across Rural to Urban Community Types in Pennsylvania, USA.

Greenness may impact blood pressure (BP), though evidence is limited among individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D), for whom BP management is critical. We evaluated associations of residential greenness with BP among individuals with T2D in geographically diverse communities in Pennsylvania. To address variation in greenness type, we evaluated modification of associations by percent forest. We obtained systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP measurements from medical records of 9593 individuals following diabetes diagnosis. Proximate greenness was estimated within 1250-m buffers surrounding individuals' residences using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) prior to blood pressure measurement. Percent forest was calculated using the U.S. National Land Cover Database. Linear mixed models with robust standard errors accounted for spatial clustering; models were stratified by community type (townships/boroughs/cities). In townships, the greenest communities, an interquartile range increase in NDVI was associated with reductions in SBP of 0.87 mmHg (95% CI: -1.43, -0.30) and in DBP of 0.41 mmHg (95% CI: -0.78, -0.05). No significant associations were observed in boroughs or cities. Evidence for modification by percent forest was weak. Findings suggest a threshold effect whereby high greenness may be necessary to influence BP in this population and support a slight beneficial impact of greenness on cardiovascular disease risk.

Geospatial perspectives on health: The PrEP4Love campaign and the role of local context in health promotion messaging.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remains one of the most effective biomedical interventions for the prevention of HIV transmission. However, uptake among populations most impacted by the HIV epidemic remains low. La rge-scale awareness and mobilization campaigns have sought to address gaps in knowledge and motivation in order to improve PrEP diffusion. Such campaigns must be cognizant of the historical, physical, and structural contexts in which they exist. In urban contexts, neighborhood segregation has the potential to impact health outcomes and amplify disparities. Therefore, we present novel geospatial approaches to the evaluation of a Chicago-based PrEP messaging campaign (PrEP4Love) in a 2018 cohort of men who have sex with men and transgender women, contextualizing results within the localized infrastructure and public health landscape, and examining associations between geographic location and campaign efficacy. Results revealed notable variance in rates of PrEP uptake associated with campaign exposure by Chicago planning area, which are likely explained by the historical and contemporary impacts of racist structures on physical environment and city infrastructure. Findings have important implications for the evaluation and implementation of future messaging campaigns, which should take the unique historical, structural, and geospatial factors of their particular settings into account in order to achieve maximum impact.

Loss of consumers constrains phenotypic evolution in the resulting food web.

The loss of biodiversity is altering the structure of ecological networks; however, we are currently in a poor position to predict how these altered communities will affect the evolution of remaining populations. Theory on fitness landscapes provides a framework for predicting how selection alters the evolutionary trajectory and adaptive potential of populations, but often treats the network of interacting populations as a "black box." Here, we integrate ecological networks and fitness landscapes to examine how changes in food-web structure shape phenotypic evolution. We conducted a field experiment that removed a guild of larval parasitoids that imposed direct and indirect selection pressures on an insect herbivore. We then measured herbivore survival as a function of three key phenotypic traits to estimate directional, quadratic, and correlational selection gradients in each treatment. We used these selection gradients to characterize the slope and curvature of the fitness landscape to understand the direct and indirect effects of consumer loss on phenotypic evolution. We found that the number of traits under directional selection increased with the removal of larval parasitoids, indicating evolution was more constrained toward a specific combination of traits. Similarly, we found that the removal of larval parasitoids altered the curvature of the fitness landscape in such a way that tended to decrease the evolvability of the traits we measured in the next generation. Our results suggest that the loss of trophic interactions can impose greater constraints on phenotypic evolution. This indicates that the simplification of ecological communities may constrain the adaptive potential of remaining populations to future environmental change.