Ecol 21n | Lecture| 2nd Sem.

AY: 2023-2024

Module 2: Interaction of Ecology and Evolution

Lesson 2.1:
Evolutionary Ecology
Cheryl C. Batistel
Lecturer
[email protected]
Lesson Overview

Overview This lesson will make you look closer to why there
are extinct and extant species. Change is a
constant process in the biosphere. We have to be
equipped to adapt to maintain our species.
However, speciation occurs as a normal means of
evolution.

Learning
Outcomes At the end of the lesson, learners are expected to:
1. Connect the relationships of principles of evolution
and ecology.
2. Explain the relevance of adaptation to the survival of
species.
3. Determine the factors that lead to speciation.
Evolutionary Ecology

Evolution • The genetic change in a population over time

• The change in the allele frequency in a population

Adaptations • An organism is subjected to several mechanisms to

effect such change demonstrating the link of
ecology and evolution.
Variation
• An organism’s ecological circumstances direct its
evolution, and its response to the ecological situations
Sources of may be evolutionary
Variation

Species and
Population Nature
vs
Genes Nurture?
Evolutionary Ecology

Evolution The basis of natural selection as presented by

Darwin (1859), based on the summary by
Mayr (1982)
Adaptations

Variation

Sources of
Variation

Species and
Population
• 1930sand 1940s: Darwin’s ideas were integrated
with the new understanding of genetics to create
Genes the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory.
• Sincethen, other fields have been incorporated in
the framework of evolutionary theory
Evolutionary Ecology

Evolution Adaptations

• Characteristics that capacitate an organism to

Adaptations
live in a particular environment
• Enhances the capability of an organism to suit
Variation
well to its environment
Sources of • Genetically determined characteristics
Variation

Species and
Population

Genes

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Evolutionary Ecology

Evolution Chromosome, Genes and Alleles

Chromosome
Adaptations
structures found
in the center
Variation (nucleus) of cells
that carry long
Sources of pieces of DNA
Variation

Species and
Population Gene - basic physical and functional unit of heredity;
DNA sections that code for specific proteins to produce
a specific trait (e.g. a gene for the color of the hair)
Genes
▪ Each gene is composed of two copies of each gene,
which are called alleles.
Evolutionary Ecology

Evolution Gene pool – the sum of all genes in a population

• Concern in population genetics: change in the
Adaptations gene pool composition
• One way to characterize the gene pool is through
Variation the determination of the allele frequency

Sources of
Variation

Species and
Population

Genes
Evolutionary Ecology

Evolution • Genetic variation – diversity in gene frequencies;

A term used to describe the variation in the DNA
sequence in each of our genomes
Adaptations
What causes variation??
Variation • Phenotype – the visible
manifestation of a character
▪ e.g. hair color (black hair)
Sources of
Variation • Genotype – the variation at the
genetic level
Species and ▪ BB and Bb - genotypes for black
Population hair
▪ B – black (BB or Bb – black hair)
Genes ▪ b – white (bb – white hair) Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Variability is rooted in genetic make-up or due to

environmentally-induced factors
Evolutionary Ecology

Evolution
What are the mechanisms for variation?
Adaptations • Mutations

Variation • Gene flow (migration)

Sources of • Genetic drift

Variation
• Natural selection
Species and
Population
▪ Sexual selection
Genes
What are the mechanisms of variation?

Mutations • Inheritable changes in a gene or a chromosome

• Produce new alleles and new genes
Gene Flow • Random and is the original source of genetic
variation that serves as raw material for evolution
Genetic Drift ▪ Gene mutation (point mutation) – changes in a
single nucleotide; examples are sickle-cell anemia,
Natural cystic fibrosis
Selection
What are the mechanisms of variation?

Mutations ▪ Chromosome mutation – change chromosome

structure or number by deletion, duplication,
inversion, translocation; may affect organism in
Gene Flow
multiple ways

Genetic Drift

Natural
Selection
Evolutionary Ecology

Evolution • Species is the basic unit in an ecological

investigation

Adaptations • Population is the basic evolutionary unit.

▪ composed of conspecifics, individuals of the
Variation same species, living in a specific geographic
area
Sources of ▪ interaction must include the probability of
Variation mating to produce offspring, among the
Species and criterion of what makes a species.
Population

Genes
What are the mechanisms of variation?

Mutations • Also known as migration

• Movement of individuals, and/or the genetic material
they carry, from one population to another (emigration
Gene Flow and immigration)
• Important mechanism for transferring genetic diversity
Genetic Drift among populations
• How (examples)?
Natural ▪ Pollen blown to new destinations
Selection ▪ People moving to new cities
What are the mechanisms of variation?

Mutations • Chance events that cause allele frequencies to

fluctuate unpredictably from one generation to
the next
Gene Flow
• Common to occur in a small population.
• May also happen in large populations, but its
Genetic Drift effects are more significant in a small population.
• Effective population size has to be maintained
Natural
to avoid genetic drift.
Selection
 2 Cases of Genetic Drift
Bottleneck Effect
occur when a population’s size is
reduced for at least one generation

Example
Northern elephant seals have reduced genetic
variation due to hunting in 1890s; population
reduced to as low as 20 individuals at the end of
the 19th century.
Population has since rebounded to over 30,000
but their genes still have much less variation than
a population of southern elephant seals that was
not so intensely hunted. https://evolution.berkeley.edu/bottlenecks-and-founder-effects/
 2 Cases of Genetic Drift
Founder Effect
the reduction in genomic variability that occurs when a small group of individuals
becomes separated from a larger population

Over time, the resulting new

subpopulation will have genotypes and
physical traits resembling the initial small,
separated group, and may be very
different from the original larger
population.

This can also explain why certain inherited

diseases are found more frequently in
https://www.pathwayz.org/ some limited population groups.
 What are the mechanisms of variation?

Mutations • Traits determine reproductive success

• There is a differential representation of genotypes in
future generations as a result of the heritable
Gene Flow
differences in survival and reproduction.

• Change was gradually

Genetic Drift introduced into the
species and passed
Natural down through
Selection generations. This theory
is alternatively referred
to as the theory of
transformation or
simply Lamarckism https://ontrack-media.net/gateway/biology/g_bm3l2as1.html
How is variation maintained?
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium Principle
▪ way to measure
if populations are evolving or not
▪ a way to compare allele frequencies in a
population over time
• The relationship between genotypes and
allele frequencies can be quantified using
the Hardy-Weinberg equation
▪ This equation describes the genotype
frequencies expected from the allele
frequencies Image source: https://www.expii.com/t/hardy-
▪ A population that has genotype weinberg-principle-overview-equation-10992

frequencies that match the Hardy-

Weinberg prediction is said to be in Hardy-
Weinberg equilibrium
How much variation exists in nature?
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium Principle
• 5 assumptions about the population:
random mating (that is, no sexual
selection), large or infinite population
(no genetic drift), no mutation,
no migration, and no natural selection.
▪ These must be met for a population to
be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

• The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium remains

constant as long as these conditions are
not violated. Image source: https://www.expii.com/t/hardy-weinberg-principle-
overview-equation-10992

Of course, the Hardy-Weinberg Principle recognized that no natural

population is immune to evolution!!!
 What makes the genotype and allele
frequencies change?

• Through the natural probability of mating

• Remember, during mating, there is a segregation of
gametes
▪ Review Mendel's law of independent segregation

What is a gamete?
• The DNA with the genes contained in the chromosomes
• In the absence of other external forces to alter the
random probability of mating, the equilibrium remains. If
so, how does evolution happen?