Adaptive genetic variation mediates bottom-up and top-down control in an aquatic ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Research in eco-evolutionary dynamics and community genetics has demonstrated that variation within a species can have strong impacts on associated communities and ecosystem processes. Yet, these studies have centred around individual focal species and at single trophic levels, ignoring the role of phenotypic variation in multiple taxa within an ecosystem. Given the ubiquitous nature of local adaptation, and thus intraspecific variation, we sought to understand how combinations of intraspecific variation in multiple species within an ecosystem impacts its ecology. Using two species that co-occur and demonstrate adaptation to their natal environments, black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) and three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), we investigated the effects of intraspecific ph

SUBMITTER: Rudman SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4528534 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature