How does resource supply affect evolutionary diversification?

Alex R. Hall, Nick Colegrave

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

The availability of different resources in the environment can affect the outcomes of evolutionary diversification. A unimodal distribution of diversity with resource supply has been widely observed and explained previously in the context of selection acting in a spatially heterogeneous environment. Here, we propose an alternative mechanism to explain the relationship between resource supply and diversification that is based on selection for exploitation of different resources. To test this mechanism, we conducted a selection experiment using the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens in spatially homogeneous environments over a wide range of resource supply rates. Our results show that niche diversification peaks at intermediate levels of resource availability. We suggest that this unimodal relationship is due to evolutionary diversification that is driven by competition for resources but constrained by the ecological opportunity represented by different resource types. These processes may underlie some general patterns of diversity, including latitudinal gradients in species richness and the effects of anthropogenic enrichment of the environment.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)73-78
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
Volume274
Issue number1606
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jan 2007

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Pseudomonas fluorescens
  • selection experiment
  • adaptive diversification
  • resource supply
  • diversity
  • productivity

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