Evolution in interacting species alters predator life-history traits, behaviour and morphology in experimental microbial communities.

ABSTRACT: Predator-prey interactions heavily influence the dynamics of many ecosystems. An increasing body of evidence suggests that rapid evolution and coevolution can alter these interactions, with important ecological implications, by acting on traits determining fitness, including reproduction, anti-predatory defence and foraging efficiency. However, most studies to date have focused only on evolution in the prey species, and the predator traits in (co)evolving systems remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated changes in predator traits after approximately 600 generations in a predator-prey (ciliate-bacteria) evolutionary experiment. Predators independently evolved on seven different prey species, allowing generalization of the predator's evolutionary response. We used highly resolved auto

SUBMITTER: Cairns J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7341940 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature