The value of long-term ecological research for evolutionary insights

Jennifer M Cocciardi^{1

2}, Ava M Hoffman³, Diego F Alvarado-Serrano⁴, Jill Anderson⁵, Meghan Blumstein⁶, Emma L Boehm⁷, Lana G Bolin⁷, Israel T Borokini⁸, Gideon S Bradburd⁹, Haley A Branch¹⁰, Lars A Brudvig¹¹, Yanni Chen¹², Scott L Collins¹³, David L Des Marais⁶, Diana Gamba¹⁴, Niall P Hanan¹⁵, Mia M Howard⁹, Joseph Jaros¹⁶, Thomas E Juenger¹⁷, Nicholas J Kooyers¹⁸, Ezra J Kottler¹⁹, Jennifer A Lau⁷, Mitra Menon²⁰, David A Moeller²¹, Thomas J Mozdzer²², Seema N Sheth²³, Melinda Smith²⁴, Katherine Toll^{11

25}, Mark C Ungerer²⁶, Megan L Vahsen²⁷, Susana M Wadgymar²⁸, Amy Waananen²⁹, Kenneth D Whitney¹³, Meghan L Avolio³⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. jmcoccia@olemiss.edu.
² Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA. jmcoccia@olemiss.edu.
³ Department of Biostatistics, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
⁵ Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
⁶ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁷ Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
⁸ Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
¹² Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
¹³ Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Jornada Basin LTER Program, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
²⁰ Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
²¹ Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
²² Department of Biology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, USA.
²³ Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
²⁴ Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
²⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
²⁶ Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
²⁷ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
²⁸ Biology Department, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA.
²⁹ Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
³⁰ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. meghan.avolio@jhu.edu.

PMID: 39095611
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02464-y

Review

The value of long-term ecological research for evolutionary insights

Jennifer M Cocciardi et al. Nat Ecol Evol. 2024 Sep.

. 2024 Sep;8(9):1584-1592.

doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02464-y. Epub 2024 Aug 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. jmcoccia@olemiss.edu.
² Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA. jmcoccia@olemiss.edu.
³ Department of Biostatistics, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
⁵ Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
⁶ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁷ Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
⁸ Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
¹² Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
¹³ Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Jornada Basin LTER Program, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
²⁰ Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
²¹ Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
²² Department of Biology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, USA.
²³ Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
²⁴ Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
²⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
²⁶ Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
²⁷ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
²⁸ Biology Department, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA.
²⁹ Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
³⁰ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. meghan.avolio@jhu.edu.

PMID: 39095611
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02464-y

Abstract

Scientists must have an integrative understanding of ecology and evolution across spatial and temporal scales to predict how species will respond to global change. Although comprehensively investigating these processes in nature is challenging, the infrastructure and data from long-term ecological research networks can support cross-disciplinary investigations. We propose using these networks to advance our understanding of fundamental evolutionary processes and responses to global change. For ecologists, we outline how long-term ecological experiments can be expanded for evolutionary inquiry, and for evolutionary biologists, we illustrate how observed long-term ecological patterns may motivate new evolutionary questions. We advocate for collaborative, multi-site investigations and discuss barriers to conducting evolutionary work at network sites. Ultimately, these networks offer valuable information and opportunities to improve predictions of species' responses to global change.

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References

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The value of long-term ecological research for evolutionary insights

Affiliations

The value of long-term ecological research for evolutionary insights

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources