Latitudinal gradients in seed predation persist in urbanized environments.

Urbanization is creating a new global biome, in which cities and suburbs around the world often resemble each other more than the local natural areas they replaced. But while urbanization can profoundly affect ecology at local scales, we know little about whether it disrupts large-scale ecological patterns. Here we test whether urbanization disrupts a macroecological pattern central to ecological and evolutionary theory: the increase in seed predation intensity from high to low latitudes. Across 14,000 km of latitude spanning the Americas, we compared predation intensity on two species of standardized experimental seeds in urbanized and natural areas. In natural areas, predation on both seed species increased fivefold from high latitudes to the tropics, one of the strongest latitudinal gradients in species interactions documented so far. Surprisingly, latitudinal gradients in predation were equally strong in urbanized areas despite significant habitat modification. Nevertheless, urbanization did affect seed predation. Compared with natural areas, urbanization reduced overall predation and vertebrate predation, did not affect predation by invertebrates in general, and increased predation by ants. Our results show that macroecological patterns in predation intensity can persist in urbanized environments, even as urbanization alters the relative importance of predators and potentially the evolutionary trajectory of urban populations.

Adaptation across geographic ranges is consistent with strong selection in marginal climates and legacies of range expansion.

Every species experiences limits to its geographic distribution. Some evolutionary models predict that populations at range edges are less well adapted to their local environments due to drift, expansion load, or swamping gene flow from the range interior. Alternatively, populations near range edges might be uniquely adapted to marginal environments. In this study, we use a database of transplant studies that quantify performance at broad geographic scales to test how local adaptation, site quality, and population quality change from spatial and climatic range centers toward edges. We find that populations from poleward edges perform relatively poorly, both on average across all sites (15% lower population quality) and when compared to other populations at home (31% relative fitness disadvantage), consistent with these populations harboring high genetic load. Populations from equatorial edges also perform poorly on average (18% lower population quality) but, in contrast, outperform foreign populations (16% relative fitness advantage), suggesting that populations from equatorial edges have strongly adapted to unique environments. Finally, we find that populations from sites that are thermally extreme relative to the species' niche demonstrate strong local adaptation, regardless of their geographic position. Our findings indicate that both nonadaptive processes and adaptive evolution contribute to variation in adaptation across species' ranges.

Eco-evolutionary dynamics of range expansion.

Understanding the movement of species' ranges is a classic ecological problem that takes on urgency in this era of global change. Historically treated as a purely ecological process, range expansion is now understood to involve eco-evolutionary feedbacks due to spatial genetic structure that emerges as populations spread. We synthesize empirical and theoretical work on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of range expansion, with emphasis on bridging directional, deterministic processes that favor evolved increases in dispersal and demographic traits with stochastic processes that lead to the random fixation of alleles and traits. We develop a framework for understanding the joint influence of these processes in changing the mean and variance of expansion speed and its underlying traits. Our synthesis of recent laboratory experiments supports the consistent role of evolution in accelerating expansion speed on average, and highlights unexpected diversity in how evolution can influence variability in speed: results not well predicted by current theory. We discuss and evaluate support for three classes of modifiers of eco-evolutionary range dynamics (landscape context, trait genetics, and biotic interactions), identify emerging themes, and suggest new directions for future work in a field that stands to increase in relevance as populations move in response to global change.

Pelagic fish predation is stronger at temperate latitudes than near the equator.

Species interactions are widely thought to be strongest in the tropics, potentially contributing to the greater number of species at lower latitudes. Yet, empirical tests of this "biotic interactions" hypothesis remain limited and often provide mixed results. Here, we analyze 55 years of catch per unit effort data from pelagic longline fisheries to estimate the strength of predation exerted by large predatory fish in the world's oceans. We test two central tenets of the biotic interactions hypothesis: that predation is (1) strongest near the equator, and (2) positively correlated with species richness. Counter to these predictions, we find that predation is (1) strongest in or near the temperate zone and (2) negatively correlated with oceanic fish species richness. These patterns suggest that, at least for pelagic fish predation, common assumptions about the latitudinal distribution of species interactions do not apply, thereby challenging a leading explanation for the latitudinal gradient in species diversity.

An evaluation of alternative explanations for widespread cytonuclear discordance in annual sunflowers (Helianthus).

Cytonuclear discordance is commonly observed in phylogenetic studies, yet few studies have tested whether these patterns reflect incomplete lineage sorting or organellar introgression. Here, we used whole-chloroplast sequence data in combination with over 1000 nuclear single-nucleotide polymorphisms to clarify the extent of cytonuclear discordance in wild annual sunflowers (Helianthus), and to test alternative explanations for such discordance. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate that cytonuclear discordance is widespread within this group, both in terms of the relationships among species and among individuals within species. Simulations of chloroplast evolution show that incomplete lineage sorting cannot explain these patterns in most cases. Instead, most of the observed discordance is better explained by cytoplasmic introgression. Molecular tests of evolution further indicate that selection may have played a role in driving patterns of plastid variation - although additional experimental work is needed to fully evaluate the importance of selection on organellar variants in different parts of the geographic range. Overall, this study represents one of the most comprehensive tests of the drivers of cytonuclear discordance and highlights the potential for gene flow to lead to extensive organellar introgression in hybridizing taxa.

A synthesis of transplant experiments and ecological niche models suggests that range limits are often niche limits.

Global change has made it important to understand the factors that shape species' distributions. Central to this area of research is the question of whether species' range limits primarily reflect the distribution of suitable habitat (i.e. niche limits) or arise as a result of dispersal limitation. Over-the-edge transplant experiments and ecological niche models are commonly used to address this question, yet few studies have taken advantage of a combined approach for inferring the causes of range limits. Here, we synthesise results from existing transplant experiments with new information on the predicted suitability of sites based on niche models. We found that individual performance and habitat suitability independently decline beyond range limits across multiple species. Furthermore, inferences from transplant experiments and niche models were generally concordant within species, with 31 out of 40 cases fully supporting the hypothesis that range limits are niche limits. These results suggest that range limits are often niche limits and that the factors constraining species' ranges operate at scales detectable by both transplant experiments and niche models. In light of these findings, we outline an integrative framework for addressing the causes of range limits in individual species.

Individual performance in relation to cytonuclear discordance in a northern contact zone between long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) lineages.

Cytonuclear discordance in contact zones between related lineages is common, with mitochondrial clines often being displaced from clines in nuclear allele frequency. Proposed explanations for such a pattern include adaptive introgression of mtDNA or a neutral wake of mtDNA being left behind following hybrid zone movement. However, studies investigating these hypotheses are rare. Our previous survey of genetic variation in the long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) highlighted a potential case of cytonuclear discordance between two lineages in western Canada. Here, we use additional markers and samples to clarify the extent of this discordance. We simultaneously assess the feeding performance of individuals in a common environment to test for an association between mitotype and individual performance. The genetic results confirm a general pattern of cytonuclear discordance in the focal region. However, we also observed more limited introgression of a diagnostic nuclear marker. Intriguingly, although there were differences in individual performance associated with the transition between mitotypes, these differences were not fully explained by mitotype. Instead, the lowest performance was observed in individuals demonstrating the greatest mismatch between mtDNA and all nuclear markers, suggesting the potential for cytonuclear incompatibilities to be acting. These results highlight the complexity of understanding the causes and consequences of mtDNA introgression and cytonuclear discordance in contact zones.

Broken barriers: human-induced changes to gene flow and introgression in animals: an examination of the ways in which humans increase genetic exchange among populations and species and the consequences for biodiversity.

We identify two processes by which humans increase genetic exchange among groups of individuals: by affecting the distribution of groups and dispersal patterns across a landscape, and by affecting interbreeding among sympatric or parapatric groups. Each of these processes might then have two different effects on biodiversity: changes in the number of taxa through merging or splitting of groups, and the extinction/extirpation of taxa through effects on fitness. We review the various ways in which humans are affecting genetic exchange, and highlight the difficulties in predicting the impacts on biodiversity. Gene flow and hybridization are crucially important evolutionary forces influencing biodiversity. Humans alter natural patterns of genetic exchange in myriad ways, and these anthropogenic effects are likely to influence the genetic integrity of populations and species. We argue that taking a gene-centric view towards conservation will help resolve issues pertaining to conservation and management. Editor's suggested further reading in BioEssays A systemic view of biodiversity and its conservation: Processes, interrelationships, and human culture Abstract.

Do landscape processes predict phylogeographic patterns in the wood frog?

Understanding factors that influence population connectivity and the spatial distribution of genetic variation is a major goal in molecular ecology. Improvements in the availability of high-resolution geographic data have made it increasingly possible to quantify the effects of landscape features on dispersal and genetic structure. However, most studies examining such landscape effects have been conducted at very fine (e.g. landscape genetics) or broad (e.g. phylogeography) spatial scales. Thus, the extent to which processes operating at fine spatial scales are linked to patterns at larger scales remains unclear. Here, we test whether factors impacting wood frog dispersal at fine spatial scales are correlated with genetic structure at regional scales. Using recently developed methods borrowed from electrical circuit theory, we generated landscape resistance matrices among wood frog populations in eastern North America based on slope, a wetness index, land cover and absolute barriers to wood frog dispersal. We then determined whether these matrices are correlated with genetic structure based on six microsatellite markers and whether such correlations outperform a landscape-free model of isolation by resistance. We observed significant genetic structure at regional spatial scales. However, topography and landscape variables associated with the intervening habitat between sites provide little explanation for patterns of genetic structure. Instead, absolute dispersal barriers appear to be the best predictor of regional genetic structure in this species. Our results suggest that landscape variables that influence dispersal, microhabitat selection and population structure at fine spatial scales do not necessarily explain patterns of genetic structure at broader scales.

Postglacial range expansion from northern refugia by the wood frog, Rana sylvatica.

Although the range dynamics of North American amphibians during the last glacial cycle are increasingly better understood, the recolonization history of the most northern regions and the impact of southern refugia on patterns of intraspecific genetic diversity and phenotypic variation in these regions are not well reconstructed. Here we present the phylogeographic history of a widespread and primarily northern frog, Rana sylvatica. We surveyed 551 individuals from 116 localities across the species' range for a 650-bp region of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and tRNA(TRP) mitochondrial genes. Our phylogenetic analyses revealed two distinct clades corresponding to eastern and western populations, as well as a Maritime subclade within the eastern lineage. Patterns of genetic diversity support multiple refugia. However, high-latitude refugia in the Appalachian highlands and modern-day Wisconsin appear to have had the biggest impact on northern populations. Clustering analyses based on morphology further support a distinction between eastern and western wood frogs and suggest that postglacial migration has played an important role in generating broad-scale patterns of phenotypic variation in this species.

Phylogeny-based delimitation of species boundaries and contact zones in the trilling chorus frogs (Pseudacris).

Although the trilling chorus frogs (subclade within Pseudacris: Hylidae) have been important in studies of speciation, continental patterns of genetic diversity within and among species have not been elucidated. As a result, this North American clade has been the subject of substantial taxonomic debate. In this study, we examined the phylogenetic relationships among the trilling Pseudacris and tested previously hypothesized scenarios for speciation using 2.4 kb of mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA genes from 253 populations. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses, in combination with published morphological and behavioral data, support recognition of at least nine species, including an undescribed species from the south-central United States. Evidence is presented for substantial geographic subdivision within P. brachyphona (northern and southern clades) and P. feriarum (coastal and inland clades). Discordance between morphology/behavior and molecular data in several individuals suggests occasional hybridization between sympatric species. These results require major revision of range limits for several taxa, in particular, P. maculata, P. triseriata, and P. feriarum. Hypothesis tests using parametric bootstrapping strongly reject previously proposed scenarios for speciation in the group. The tests also support recognition of the geographically restricted taxon P. kalmi as a distinct species. Results of this study provide both a firm phylogenetic basis for future studies of speciation in the trilling Pseudacris and a taxonomic framework for conservation efforts.