OOS 15 - Contemporary Evolution Amid the Human Enterprise: New Insights Into the Fates of Populations and Communities

Tuesday, August 7, 2012: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
A106, Oregon Convention Center
Organizer:
Steven P. Brady, Dartmouth College
Moderator:
David K. Skelly, Yale University
The “newest synthesis” of ecology, evolution and genetics is well underway, gaining traction in increasingly larger circles of environmental sciences. The recognition that evolutionary and ecological processes interact intimately is broadening. More and more, investigators are incorporating insights from eco-evolutionary theory and empirical studies into the development and testing of an emerging suite of research questions aimed explicitly at accounting for contemporary evolution as an ecological actor. Eco-evolutionary approaches are critical for gaining insights into long-term changes among populations and communities, particularly those influenced by anthropogenic processes. Indeed, the eco-evolutionary approach is revealing key, and often cryptic, insights into species’ adaptive capacities—or lack thereof—in the face of novel selection pressures associated with human induced environmental change. Yet, while it is well accepted that our capacity for sustaining ecosystems depends critically on our ability to forecast long-term effects, eco-evolutionary approaches have only recently been brought bear on this imperative. Absent evolutionary understanding, such projections can land severely off course. Through this session, we aim to (1) showcase the profound importance of employing eco-evolutionary approaches in investigations designed at understanding biological responses to human altered systems; (2) and to provide a synthesis of knowledge aimed at paving the way forward for applied eco-evolutionary research. We thank bioGENESIS, a core project of DIVERSITAS, for their support of this session.
2:10 PM
 Interacting evolutionary mechanisms during island introductions in brown anole lizards
Jason Kolbe, University of Rhode Island; Manuel Leal, Duke University; Thomas W. Schoener, University of California, Davis; David A. Spiller, University of California, Davis; Jonathan Losos, Harvard University
2:30 PM
 Signatures of selection in natural populations adapted to chronic pollution
Larissa Williams, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
2:50 PM
 Evolution and conservation of Pacific salmon in a changing world
Robin S. Waples, NOAA Fisheries; Anna Elz, NOAA Fisheries; Linda Park, NOAA Fisheries; Bill Arnsberg, Nez Perce Tribe
3:10 PM
3:20 PM
4:00 PM
 Invasive weed demonstrates phenotypic differentiation between ranges in multiple common gardens
Kathryn G. Turner, University of British Columbia; Hélène Freville, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Centre national de la recherche scientifique; Ruth A. Hufbauer, Colorado State University; Loren H. Rieseberg, University of British Columbia
4:20 PM
 Eco-evolutionary consequences of phenological mismatch in Dutch great tits
Thomas E. Reed, Netherlands Institute of Ecology; Marcel Visser, Netherlands Institute of Ecology
4:40 PM
 Rapid adaptive evolution in a biological control insect colonizing a high-elevation environment in western Oregon
Peter B. McEvoy, Oregon State University; Kimberley M. Higgs, Oregon State University; Evrim Karaçetin, Erciyes University
See more of: Organized Oral Session