Designing eco-evolutionary experiments for restoration projects: Opportunities and constraints revealed during stickleback introductions.

Autor: Hendry AP; Department of Biology McGill University Montréal Québec Canada., Barrett RDH; Department of Biology McGill University Montréal Québec Canada., Bell AM; School of Integrative Biology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana Illinois USA., Bell MA; Museum of Paleontology University of California Berkeley California USA., Bolnick DI; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Connecticut Storrs Connecticut USA., Gotanda KM; Department of Biological Sciences Brock University Saint Catharines Ontario Canada., Haines GE; Aquaculture and Fish Biology Hólar University College Sauðárkrókur Iceland., Lind ÅJ; Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern Switzerland., Packer M; Department of Biology University of Texas at Arlington Arlington Texas USA., Peichel CL; Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern Switzerland., Peterson CR; Integrative Biology University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas USA., Poore HA; California Energy Commission Sacramento California USA., Massengill RL; State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game Kalifornsky Alaska USA., Milligan-McClellan K; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology University of Connecticut Storrs Connecticut USA., Steinel NC; Biological Sciences University of Massachusetts Lowell Lowell Massachusetts USA., Sanderson S; Department of Biology McGill University Montréal Québec Canada., Walsh MR; Department of Biology University of Texas at Arlington Arlington Texas USA., Weber JN; Integrative Biology University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison Wisconsin USA., Derry AM; Sciences Biologiques Université du Québec á Montréal Montréal Québec Canada.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecology and evolution [Ecol Evol] 2024 Jun 25; Vol. 14 (6), pp. e11503. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jun 25 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11503
Abstrakt: Eco-evolutionary experiments are typically conducted in semi-unnatural controlled settings, such as mesocosms; yet inferences about how evolution and ecology interact in the real world would surely benefit from experiments in natural uncontrolled settings. Opportunities for such experiments are rare but do arise in the context of restoration ecology-where different "types" of a given species can be introduced into different "replicate" locations. Designing such experiments requires wrestling with consequential questions. (Q1) Which specific "types" of a focal species should be introduced to the restoration location? (Q2) How many sources of each type should be used-and should they be mixed together? (Q3) Which specific source populations should be used? (Q4) Which type(s) or population(s) should be introduced into which restoration sites? We recently grappled with these questions when designing an eco-evolutionary experiment with threespine stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ) introduced into nine small lakes and ponds on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska that required restoration. After considering the options at length, we decided to use benthic versus limnetic ecotypes (Q1) to create a mixed group of colonists from four source populations of each ecotype (Q2), where ecotypes were identified based on trophic morphology (Q3), and were then introduced into nine restoration lakes scaled by lake size (Q4). We hope that outlining the alternatives and resulting choices will make the rationales clear for future studies leveraging our experiment, while also proving useful for investigators considering similar experiments in the future.
Competing Interests: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
(© 2024 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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