Methods in Evolutionary Ecology
From Observation to Experimental Design
From Question to Hypothesis
From Evidence to Argument
From Hypothesis to Theory
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University, April 2014
• What is Evolution• What is Evolutionary Ecology• What are the methods in evolutionary ecology
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
(c) 2001 by W.H. Freeman and Company
Charle Robert Darwin,1809-18821831-1836 on HMS Beagle
1 On the origin of species, 18592 Darwin, Charles; Wallace, Alfred Russel (1858), "On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection", Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 3: 46–50, doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1858.tb02500.x, retrieved 14 January 2007
Main Concepts of Evolution
• Change in genetic makeup of a population• There is standing genetic variation• The genetic variation is inheritable• The inheritable variation are related to
organism’s fitness• Thus the variation could be adaptive shaped
by natural selection
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
Evolutionary ecology
• Evolutionary ecology lies at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology.
• It approaches the study of ecology in a way that explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and the interactions between them.
• The main subfields of evolutionary ecology are life history evolution, sociobiology (the evolution of social behavior), the evolution of interspecific and the evolution of biodiversity and of communities.
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
Where we can observe genetic variation?
• From phenotypic variation• From karyotype (核型)• From allozyme markers• From molecular markers• From genome (NGS)
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
Track the progress in evolutionary ecology research by following good journals
• Evolutionary Ecology Research - a journal in the field.• Methods in Ecology and Evolution - a journal in the field.• Ecology and Evolution - Wiley• Evolutionary Ecology – Springer• Ecology Letters• Trends in Ecology and Evolution• Journal of Ecology/Journal of Molecular Ecology• Ecology• Oikos• Science/Nature
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
The most important things matter evolutionary ecology of a species
• Sexual or A sexual?• Ploidy?• Sex system?• Mating System?
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
A evolutionary paradox of a beautiful shrub species, Rosa rugosa
• Background• Questions• Methods• Results• Discussion and conclusions
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
Background
The species, Rosa rugosa (Rosaceae)
Natural distribute in East Asia and its invasion in
Europe
Declining in China
Invasion in NW Europe
Sexual and asexual reproduction, self-incompatible,
diploid
Background
The species, Rosa rugosa (Rosaceae)
Natural distribution in East Asia and its
invasion in Europe
Declining in China
Invasion in NW Europe
Background
The species, Rosa rugosa (Rosaceae)
Natural distribution in East Asia and its
invasion in Europe
Declining in China
Invasion in NW Europe
Invasion in NW Europe
① It was firstly introduced into GB in 1796, established in gardens in the 1870s, first recorded in the wild of Cumberland in 1927.
② Then the naturalized distribution was recorded in 16 European countries between the latitudes c. 46°and 68°N. (Bruun,2005)
③ It competed habitat, pollinators with the native species and excluded native Rosa species (Isermann, 2008) or hybridized with native Rosa species.
(Bruun, 2005)
Why is R. rugosa?① The species take some advantages as a research
system for study adaptation and evolution of shrub plant.
② Multiple introduction, no loss of genetic diversity and evolved new variation from native populations .(Kelager et al, 2012) and loss of genetic diversity in the populations of China (Yang et al, 2009) have been found.
③ There is no report about differences in growth and reprodution between the invasive populations of NW Europe and the declining populations of China.
Outline
Background
Questions
Methods
Results
Discussion and conclusions
New questions
Questions
1. Does Rosa rugosa Thunb. perform better in the invasive populations of NW Europe than in the declining populations of China?
2. What are differences in growth and reproduction between the invasive populations of NW Europe and the declining populations of China?
3. What are differences in growth and reproduction between shrubs within population?
Outline
Background
Questions
Methods
Results
Discussion and conclusions
New questions
Methods
1. Five invasive populations, Two declining populations and 10-16 shrub
patches from each population.
2. Two plots (at center and edge of the shrub patch) of 1 m2 within each
shrub patch.
3. Measured the traits related to growth and reproduction: Height (cm),
cover(%), hip number of R. rugosa in each plot of 1 m2.
4. Collected 40 hips from each shrub patch.
5. Measured the hip length(mm), width(mm), seed number per hip of 10
hips from each shrub patch to calculate the seed production.
6. Determined the weight per hundred seeds 3 times for each shrub patch.
Location/Country Abbreviation Sample Size(Shrub number)
Habitat
Invasive expanding populations in Northwest Europe
Langeoog/Germany LAN 15 Manmade sand dunes against North Sea
Hundige/Denmark HUN 14 Manmade sand beach along Baltic Sea coast
Dragor/Denmark DRA 11 Sand beach along Baltic Sea coast
Heatherhill/Denmark HEA 11 Sand cliff along Kattegat Bay coast, connecting Baltic Sea and North Sea.
Scanor/ Sweden SKA 12 Sand beach Baltic Sea coast
Total 5 63
Native endangered populations in China
Muping/ China MP 10 Sand beach along Bohai Sea
Hunchun/ China HCH 10 Sand dunes along Tumenjiang River Valley
Total 2 20
Table 1 Location, sample size and habitat of each investigated R. rugosa population.
Statistical analysis of data
• t-test• One way and multiways ANOVA, ANCOVA,
linear regression, descriptive statistics.• Software: Origin 9.0, R 3.0.3 (Packages: HH,
Lattice, ggplot2, ggmap etc.)
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
Outline
• Background
• Questions
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion and conclusions
• New questions
Results
1. Differences between introduced and native
populations
2. Differences between all populations
3. Differences between shrubs within populations
Differences between introduced and native populations
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
Invasive Native
01
00
02
00
03
00
04
00
05
00
06
00
07
00
0
Population type
Se
ed
nu
mb
er
pe
r sq
ua
re m
ete
r
Differences between all populations
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
Differences between shrubs within populations
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
Population or genotype differentiation
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
ln.Seed.number. ~ Cover + Population
Cover
ln.S
eed
.nu
mb
er.
4
5
6
7
8
9
20 40 60 80 100
DRA
20 40 60 80 100
HEA
20 40 60 80 100
HUN
20 40 60 80 100
LAN
20 40 60 80 100
MP
20 40 60 80 100
SKA
20 40 60 80 100
superpose
PopulationDRAHEAHUNLANMPSKA
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
Outline
• Background
• Questions
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion and conclusions
• New questions
Discussion and conclusion
1. The factors impact growth and reproduction: climate, soil nutrients, moisture and salinity, management and age of the shrub patches, local genetic variation.
2. Standing genetic diversity from multiple introduction has an effects on adaptive potential.
3. Historical artificial selection and management may act as important factors driving population dynamics
Discussion and conclusion
1. The factors impact growth and reproduction: climate, soil nutrients, moisture and salinity, management and age of the shrub patches, local genetic variation.
2. Standing genetic diversity from multiple introduction has an effects on adaptive potential.
3. Historical artificial selection and management may act as important factors driving population dynamics
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1
20
40
60
80
10
0
Length width ratio of hip
Se
ed
nu
mb
er
pe
r h
ip
68
44
From Kelager et al, 2012
Conclusion
Does Rosa rugosa Thunb. perform better in NW Europe than in China?
Yes.What are differences in growth and reproduction between the
invasive populations of NW Europe than in the declining populations of China?
All measured traits were significantly higher in the invasive population than in the declining populations of China.
Do all population and shrubs within populations present similar growth and reproduction?
No, There are some specific populations and shrubs presenting significantly high growth and reproduction.
Take an adventure in ecology and evolution of invasive plants
• What is plant invasion?• What happened with the performance related
traits of invasive species?• How do invasive plant species adapt to and
evolve in a novel environment?• Standing genetic diversity? High phenotypic
plasticity? Novel genetic variation? Epigenetic variation?
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014
Go through the selected papers and discuss on
• What is the hypothesis of the paper?• What methods did the researchers use?• What was the sampling strategy, experiment
design or/and data analysis methods?• What are the main conclusions?
By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,
April 2014