Department Fish Ecology and Evolution

Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics

My group studies evolution as a contemporary ecological and ecosystem process. We are interested in the ecological dynamics of natural selection, and the reciprocal interactions among ecological, ecosystem, and evolutionary dynamics.

Feedbacks between phenotypic evolution and ecosystem dynamics - Feedbacks are central to understanding evolving biological systems. In aquatic systems, we study how contemporary trait evolution of predators (e.g. threespine stickleback) can affect community structure (of prey and non-prey) and the functioning of ecosystems (e.g. habitat structure, nutrient cycling, productivity). Such organisms-mediated ecosystem effects can feedback to affect selection gradients and evolutionary responses.

Evolution and the resilience of ecosystems  - Interactions between ecological and evolutionary processes are fundamental for understanding the balance of feedbacks that govern ecosystem stability and resilience to environmental change. Using pond and mesocosm experiments, we study how species interactions and biodiversity affect the resilience of aquatic system to perturbations (e.g. nutrient pollution).

Evolution of the organism-environment interaction - All living organisms evolve in a reciprocal interaction with their environment. The evolution of phenotypic plasticity is an important component of this interaction. In aquatic organisms, we study both the causes and consequences of plasticity. In isopods, cryptic pigmentation is a developmentally plastic trait, whose evolution is likely mediated by predation, resources, and habitat structure. In stickleback, trait plasticity can have effects on ecosystems that are independent of the genetic background of the population.

The community context of evolution (Greenland) - Contemporary evolution in natural populations is shaped by the interplay of abiotic environments and species interactions. It is the structure and composition of communities that defines ecological dynamics of natural selection. We have recently begun to study the community context of evolution and adaptation in freshwater ecosystems (lakes and streams) on the Southern Peninsula of Greenland. The lakes of Greenland are inhabited by only two fish species (threespine stickleback and char), and so there are a limited number of food web configurations (e.g. only one species, both species, or neither species). We are interested in how this community context (i.e. presence or absence of Char) affects the evolution of interactions between stickleback and their prey.

Contact

Dr. Blake Matthews Tel. +41 58 765 2120 Send Mail

Master Projects

Team

Jonathan Fassora Tel. +41 58 765 2158 Send Mail
Adam Janto Tel. Send Mail
Zixin Li Tel. +41 58 765 2154 Send Mail
Dr. Jordan Scott Martin Tel. +41 58 765 2253 Send Mail
Dr. Blake Matthews Tel. +41 58 765 2120 Send Mail
Danina Schmidt Tel. +41 58 765 2126 Send Mail

Publications

Environmentally independent selection for hybrids between divergent freshwater stickleback lineages in semi-natural ponds

Hybridization following secondary contact of genetically divergent populations can influence the range expansion of invasive species, though specific outcomes depend on the environmental dependence of hybrid fitness. Here, using two genetically and ecologically divergent threespine stickleback lineages that differ in their history of freshwater colonization, we estimate fitness variation of parental lineages and hybrids in semi-natural freshwater ponds with contrasting histories of nutrient loading. In our experiment, we found that fish from the older freshwater lineage (Lake Geneva) and hybrids outperformed fish from the younger freshwater lineage (Lake Constance) in terms of both growth and survival, regardless of the environmental context of our ponds. Across all ponds, hybrids exhibited the highest survival. Although wild-caught adult populations differed in their functional and defence morphology, it is unclear which of these traits underlie the fitness differences observed among juveniles in our experiment. Overall, our work suggests that when hybrid fitness is insensitive to environmental conditions, as observed here, introgression may promote population expansion into unoccupied habitats and accelerate invasion success.
Hudson, C. M.; Cuenca Cambronero, M.; Moosmann, M.; Narwani, A.; Spaak, P.; Seehausen, O.; Matthews, B. (2023) Environmentally independent selection for hybrids between divergent freshwater stickleback lineages in semi-natural ponds, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 36(8), 1166-1184, doi:10.1111/jeb.14194, Institutional Repository

The phenotypic determinants of diet variation between divergent lineages of threespine stickleback

Lineages with independent evolutionary histories often differ in both their morphology and diet. Experimental work has improved our understanding of the links between the biomechanics of morphological traits and foraging performance (trait utility). However, because the expression of foraging-relevant traits and their utility can be highly context-specific, it is often unclear how dietary divergence arises from evolved phenotypic differences. Here, we explore the phenotypic causes of dietary divergence between two genetically and phenotypically divergent lineages of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) with independent evolutionary histories of freshwater colonization and adaptation. First, using individuals from a line-cross breeding design, we conducted 150 common-garden foraging trials with a community of multiple prey species and performed morphological and behavioral analyses to test for prey-specific trait utility. Second, we tested if the traits that explain variation in foraging performance among all individuals could also explain the dietary divergence between the lineages. Overall, we found evidence for the utility of several foraging traits, but these traits did not explain the observed dietary divergence between the lineages in a common garden. This work suggests that evolved dietary divergence results not only from differences in morphology but also from divergence in behaviors that underlie prey capture success in species-rich prey communities.
Moosmann, M.; Hudson, C. M.; Seehausen, O.; Matthews, B. (2023) The phenotypic determinants of diet variation between divergent lineages of threespine stickleback, Evolution, International Journal of Organic Evolution, 77(1), 13-25, doi:10.1093/evolut/qpac021, Institutional Repository

Climate change creates nutritional phenological mismatches

Climate change is creating phenological mismatches between consumers and their resources. However, while the importance of nutritional quality in ecological interactions is widely appreciated, most studies of phenological mismatch focus on energy content alone. We argue that mismatches in terms of phenology and nutrition will increase with climate change.
Twining, C. W.; Shipley, J. R.; Matthews, B. (2022) Climate change creates nutritional phenological mismatches, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 37(9), 736-739, doi:10.1016/j.tree.2022.06.009, Institutional Repository

Climate change shifts the timing of nutritional flux from aquatic insects

Climate change can decouple resource supply from consumer demand, with the potential to create phenological mismatches driving negative consequences on fitness. However, the underlying ecological mechanisms of phenological mismatches between consumers and their resources have not been fully explored. Here, we use long-term records of aquatic and terrestrial insect biomass and egg-hatching times of several co-occurring insectivorous species to investigate temporal mismatches between the availability of and demand for nutrients that are essential for offspring development. We found that insects with aquatic larvae reach peak biomass earlier in the season than those with terrestrial larvae and that the relative availability of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFAs) to consumers is almost entirely dependent on the phenology of aquatic insect emergence. This is due to the 4- to 34-fold greater n-3 LCPUFA concentration difference in insects emerging from aquatic as opposed to terrestrial habitats. From a long-sampled site (25 years) undergoing minimal land use conversion, we found that both aquatic and terrestrial insect phenologies have advanced substantially faster than those of insectivorous birds, shifting the timing of peak availability of n-3 LCPUFAs for birds during reproduction. For species that require n-3 LCPUFAs directly from diet, highly nutritious aquatic insects cannot simply be replaced by terrestrial insects, creating nutritional phenological mismatches. Our research findings reveal and highlight the increasing necessity of specifically investigating how nutritional phenology, rather than only overall resource availability, is changing for consumers in response to climate change.
Shipley, J. R.; Twining, C. W.; Mathieu-Resuge, M.; Parmar, T. P.; Kainz, M.; Martin-Creuzburg, D.; Weber, C.; Winkler, D. W.; Graham, C. H.; Matthews, B. (2022) Climate change shifts the timing of nutritional flux from aquatic insects, Current Biology, 32(6), 1342-1349, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.057, Institutional Repository

Adaptive evolution can both prevent ecosystem collapse and delay ecosystem recovery

There is growing concern about the dire socioeco-logical consequences of abrupt transitions between alternative ecosystem states in response to environmental changes. At the same time, environmental change can trigger evolutionary responses that could stabilize or destabilize ecosystem dynamics. However, we know little about how coupled ecological and evolutionary processes affect the risk of transition between alternative ecosystem states. Using shallow lakes as a model ecosystem, we investigate how trait evolution of a key species affects ecosystem resilience under environmental stress. We find that adaptive evolution of macrophytes can increase ecosystem resilience by shifting the critical threshold, which marks the transition from a clear-water state to a turbid-water state to a higher level of environmental stress. However, following the transition, adaptation to the turbid-water state can delay the ecosystem recovery back to the clear-water state. This implies that restoration could be more effective when implemented early enough after a transition occurs and before organisms adapt to the alternative state. Our findings provide new insights into how to prevent and mitigate the occurrence of regime shifts in ecosystems and highlight the need to understand ecosystem responses to environmental change in the context of coupled ecological and evolutionary processes.
Chaparro Pedraza, P. C.; Matthews, B.; de Meester, L.; Dakos, V. (2021) Adaptive evolution can both prevent ecosystem collapse and delay ecosystem recovery, American Naturalist, 198(6), E186-E197, doi:10.1086/716929, Institutional Repository

On the evolution of trophic position

The trophic structure of food webs is primarily determined by the variation in trophic position among species and individuals. Temporal dynamics of food web structure are central to our understanding of energy and nutrient fluxes in changing environments, but little is known about how evolutionary processes shape trophic position variation in natural populations. We propose that trophic position, whose expression depends on both environmental and genetic determinants of the diet variation in individual consumers, is a quantitative trait that can evolve via natural selection. Such evolution can occur either when trophic position is correlated with other heritable morphological and behavioural traits under selection, or when trophic position is a target of selection, which is possible if the fitness effects of prey items are heterogeneously distributed along food chains. Recognising trophic position as an evolving trait, whose expression depends on the food web context, provides an important conceptual link between behavioural foraging theory and food web dynamics, and a useful starting point for the integration of ecological and evolutionary studies of trophic position.
Moosmann, M.; Cuenca-Cambronero, M.; De Lisle, S.; Greenway, R.; Hudson, C. M.; Lürig, M.; Matthews, B. (2021) On the evolution of trophic position, Ecology Letters, 24(12), 2549-2562, doi:10.1111/ele.13888, Institutional Repository

The evolutionary ecology of fatty-acid variation: implications for consumer adaptation and diversification

The nutritional diversity of resources can affect the adaptive evolution of consumer metabolism and consumer diversification. The omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) have a high potential to affect consumer fitness, through their widespread effects on reproduction, growth and survival. However, few studies consider the evolution of fatty acid metabolism within an ecological context. In this review, we first document the extensive diversity in both primary producer and consumer fatty acid distributions amongst major ecosystems, between habitats and amongst species within habitats. We highlight some of the key nutritional contrasts that can shape behavioural and/or metabolic adaptation in consumers, discussing how consumers can evolve in response to the spatial, seasonal and community-level variation of resource quality. We propose a hierarchical trait-based approach for studying the evolution of consumers' metabolic networks and review the evolutionary genetic mechanisms underpinning consumer adaptation to EPA and DHA distributions. In doing so, we consider how the metabolic traits of consumers are hierarchically structured, from cell membrane function to maternal investment, and have strongly environment-dependent expression. Finally, we conclude with an outlook on how studying the metabolic adaptation of consumers within the context of nutritional landscapes can open up new opportunities for understanding evolutionary diversification.
Twining, C. W.; Bernhardt, J. R.; Derry, A. M.; Hudson, C. M.; Ishikawa, A.; Kabeya, N.; Kainz, M. J.; Kitano, J.; Kowarik, C.; Ladd, S. N.; Leal, M. C.; Scharnweber, K.; Shipley, J. R.; Matthews, B. (2021) The evolutionary ecology of fatty-acid variation: implications for consumer adaptation and diversification, Ecology Letters, 24(8), 1709-1731, doi:10.1111/ele.13771, Institutional Repository

Current projects

from mesocosms to natural ponds

Eco-evolutionary dynamics in aquatic ecosystems
Interactive effects of diet and nutrition on phenotypic plasticity and adaptation

Phenotypic plasticity and adaptation
New tools to monitor changes in ecosystem conditions and to quantify genetic changes of populations in (semi-)natural environments to predict how human mediated environmental change will influence stability and resilience of ecosystems.

Stability and the eco-evolutionary dynamics of ecosystems

Completed projects

20,000 years of evolution and ecosystem dynamics in the world’s largest tropical lake reconstructed from sediment cores, fossils, and ancient DNA.

Digging deep into Lake Victoria's past
Myvatn threespine stickleback as a model

Eco-Evo-Devo dynamics of biodiversity
how does the spatio-temporal variation in the availability and quality of prey affect predators foraging on aquatic and terrestrial resources?

Predator coupling of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems: the importance of nutritional diversity of prey
In this project we are interested in which traits govern the efficiency of stickleback foraging in different ecological contexts.

Evolutionary ecology of stickleback in Lake Constance