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More closely related species are more ecologically similar in an experimental test.

ABSTRACT: The relationship between phylogenetic distance and ecological similarity is key to understanding mechanisms of community assembly, a central goal of ecology. The field of community phylogenetics uses phylogenetic information to infer mechanisms of community assembly; we explore, the underlying relationship between phylogenetic similarity and the niche. We combined a field experiment using 32 native plant species with a molecular phylogeny and found that closely related plant species shared similar germination and early survival niches. Species also competed more with close relatives than with distant relatives in field soils; however, in potting soil this pattern reversed, and close relatives might even have more mutalistic relationships than distant relatives in these soils. Our results suggest that niche conservatism (habitat filtering) and species interactions (competition or facilitation) structure community composition, that phylogenetic relationships influence the strength of species' interactions, and that conserved aspects of plant niches include soil attributes.

SUBMITTER: Burns JH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3069184 | biostudies-other | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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More closely related species are more ecologically similar in an experimental test.

Burns Jean H JH Strauss Sharon Y SY

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20110314 13

The relationship between phylogenetic distance and ecological similarity is key to understanding mechanisms of community assembly, a central goal of ecology. The field of community phylogenetics uses phylogenetic information to infer mechanisms of community assembly; we explore, the underlying relationship between phylogenetic similarity and the niche. We combined a field experiment using 32 native plant species with a molecular phylogeny and found that closely related plant species shared simil ...[more]

PMID: 21402914

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The processes through which populations originate and diversify ecologically in the initial stages of adaptive radiation are little understood because we lack information on critical steps of early divergence. A key question is, at what point do closely related species interact, setting the stage for competition and ecological specialization? The Hawaiian Islands provide an ideal system to explore the early stages of adaptive radiation because the islands span ages from 0.5-5 Mya. Hawaiian spiders in the genus Tetragnatha have undergone adaptive radiation, with one lineage ("spiny legs") showing four different ecomorphs (green, maroon, large brown, small brown); one representative of each ecomorph is generally found at any site on the older islands. Given that the early stages of adaptive radiation are characterized by allopatric divergence between populations of the same ecomorph, the question is, what are the steps towards subsequent co-occurrence of different ecomorphs? Using a transcriptome-based exon capture approach, we focus on early divergence among close relatives of the green ecomorph to understand processes associated with co-occurrence within the same ecomorph at the early stages of adaptive radiation. RESULTS:The major outcomes from the current study are first that closely related species within the same green ecomorph of spiny leg Tetragnatha co-occur on the same single volcano on East Maui, and second that there is no evidence of genetic admixture between these ecologically equivalent species. Further, that multiple genetic lineages exist on a single volcano on Maui suggests that there are no inherent dispersal barriers and that the observed limited distribution of taxa reflects competitive exclusion. CONCLUSIONS:The observation of co-occurrence of ecologically equivalent species on the young volcano of Maui provides a missing link in the process of adaptive radiation between the point when recently divergent species of the same ecomorph occur in allopatry, to the point where different ecomorphs co-occur at a site, as found throughout the older islands. More importantly, the ability of close relatives of the same ecomorph to interact, without admixture, may provide the conditions necessary for ecological divergence and independent evolution of ecomorphs associated with adaptive radiation.

Project description:Non-native species may be introduced either intentionally or unintentionally, and their impact can range from benign to highly disruptive. Non-native salmonids were introduced into Lake Ontario, Canada, to provide recreational fishing opportunities; however, the establishment of those species has been proposed as a significant barrier to the reintroduction of native Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) due to intense interspecific competition. In this study, we compared population differences of Atlantic salmon in transcriptome response to interspecific competition. We reared Atlantic salmon from two populations (LaHave River and Sebago Lake) with fish of each of three non-native salmonids (Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, rainbow trout O. mykiss, and brown trout S. trutta) in artificial streams. We used RNA-seq to assess transcriptome differences between the Atlantic salmon populations and the responses of these populations to the interspecific competition treatments after 10 months of competition in the stream tanks. We found that population differences in gene expression were generally greater than the effects of interspecific competition. Interestingly, we found that the two Atlantic salmon populations exhibited similar responses to interspecific competition based on functional gene ontologies, but the specific genes within those ontologies were different. Our transcriptome analyses suggest that the most stressful competitor (as measured by the highest number of differentially expressed genes) differs between the two study populations. Our transcriptome characterization highlights the importance of source population selection for conservation applications, as organisms with different evolutionary histories can possess different transcriptional responses to the same biotic stressors. The results also indicate that generalized predictions of the response of native species to interactions with introduced species may not be appropriate without incorporating potential population-specific response to introduced species.

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More closely related species are more ecologically similar in an experimental test.

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More closely related species are more ecologically similar in an experimental test.

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