Rapid adaptation to invasive predators overwhelms natural gradients of intraspecific variation.

ABSTRACT: Invasive predators can exert strong selection on native populations. If selection is strong enough, populations could lose the phenotypic variation caused by adaptation to heterogeneous environments. We compare frog tadpoles prior to and 14 years following invasion by crayfish. Prior to the invasion, populations differed in their intrinsic developmental rate, with tadpoles from cold areas reaching metamorphosis sooner than those from warm areas. Following the invasion, tadpoles from invaded populations develop faster than those from non-invaded populations. This ontogenetic shift overwhelmed the intraspecific variation between populations in a few generations, to the point where invaded populations develop at a similar rate regardless of climate. Rapid development can have costs, as fast-d

SUBMITTER: Melotto A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7368066 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature