In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences, 2004, vol. 271, p. 2149-2155
In metapopulations, only a fraction of all local host populations may be infected with a given parasite species, and limited dispersal of parasites suggests that colonization of host populations by parasites may involve only a small number of parasite strains. Using hosts and parasites obtained from a natural metapopulation, we studied the evolutionary consequences of invasion by single strains...
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In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences, 2004, vol. 271, p. 1175-1183
Estimates of phenoloxidase (PO) activity have been suggested as a useful indicator of immunocompetence in arthropods, with the idea that high PO activity would indicate high immunocompetence against parasites and pathogens. Here, we test for variation in PO activity among clones of the planktonic crustacean Daphnia magna and its covariation with susceptibility to infections from four different...
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In: Annales Zoologici Fennici, 2004, vol. 41, no. 4, p. 539-544
In many plants and animal species, asexuals are more common in marginal habitats such as high latitudes or altitudes than their closely related sexual counterparts. Here we propose a new hypothesis to explain this pattern called "geographic parthenogenesis". In marginal habitats, populations may often exist as metapopulations with high degrees of subdivision and local extinction and ...
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In: Evolution, 2004, vol. 58, no. 4, p. 757-767
Learning is thought to be adaptive in variable environments, whereas constant, predictable environments are supposed to favor unconditional, genetically fixed responses. A dichotomous view of behavior as either learned or innate ignores a potential evolutionary interaction between the learned and innate components of a behavioral response. We addressed this interaction in the context of...
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In: Ecology Letters, 2004, vol. 7, p. 1225-1241
Studies of local adaptation provide important insights into the power of natural selection relative to gene flow and other evolutionary forces. They are a paradigm for testing evolutionary hypotheses about traits favoured by particular environmental factors. This paper is an attempt to summarize the conceptual framework for local adaptation studies. We first review theoretical work relevant for...
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In: Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 2004, vol. 19, p. 417-422
Evidence is increasing that invasive plants can undergo rapid adaptive evolution during the process of range expansion. Here, we argue that evolutionary change during invasions will also affect plant–antagonist inter-actions and, thus, will have important implications for biological control programmes targeted at invasive plants. We explore how altered selection in the new range might influence...
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