Dispersal increases ecological selection by increasing effective community size.

ABSTRACT: Selection and drift are universally accepted as the cornerstones of evolutionary changes. Recent theories extend this view to ecological changes, arguing that any change in species composition is driven by deterministic fitness differences among species (enhancing selection) and/or stochasticity in birth and death rates of individuals within species (enhancing drift). These forces have contrasting effects on the predictability of ecological dynamics, and thus understanding the factors affecting their relative importance is crucial for understanding ecological dynamics. Here we test the hypothesis that dispersal increases the relative importance of ecological selection by increasing the effective size of the community (i.e., the size relevant for competitive interactions and drift). Accordi

SUBMITTER: Ron R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6217402 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature