Environmental change has been observed to generate simultaneous responses in population dynamics, life history, gene frequencies, and morphology in a number of species. But how common are such eco-evolutionary responses to environmental change likely to be? Are they inevitable, or do they require a specific type of change? Can we accurately predict eco-evolutionary responses? We address these questions using theory and data from the study of Yellowstone wolves. We show that environmental change is expected to generate eco-evolutionary change, that changes in the average environment will affect wolves to a greater extent than changes in how variable it is, and that accurate prediction of the consequences of environmental change will probably prove elusive.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1209441 | DOI Listing |
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Environmental Sciences Department, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen 6708 PB, The Netherlands.
The boreal forest biome is warming four times faster than the global average. Changes so far are moderate, but time lags in responses may transiently maintain forest states which are no longer supported by current environmental conditions. Here, we explore whether tree cover dynamics hint at the state to which the biome may be shifting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045.
Climate change is increasing the frequency of large-scale, extreme environmental events and flattening environmental gradients. Whether such changes will cause spatially synchronous, large-scale population declines depends on mechanisms that limit metapopulation synchrony, thereby promoting rescue effects and stability. Using long-term data and empirical dynamic models, we quantified spatial heterogeneity in density dependence, spatial heterogeneity in environmental responses, and environmental gradients to assess their role in inhibiting synchrony across 36 marine fish and invertebrate species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Archaeology & Palaeoecology, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University, Belfast BT9 3AZ, United Kingdom.
Polar ice cores and historical records evidence a large-magnitude volcanic eruption in 1831 CE. This event was estimated to have injected ~13 Tg of sulfur (S) into the stratosphere which produced various atmospheric optical phenomena and led to Northern Hemisphere climate cooling of ~1 °C. The source of this volcanic event remains enigmatic, though one hypothesis has linked it to a modest phreatomagmatic eruption of Ferdinandea in the Strait of Sicily, which may have emitted additional S through magma-crust interactions with evaporite rocks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
While iron (Fe) is essential for life and plays important roles for almost all growth related processes, it can trigger cell death in both animals and plants. However, the underlying mechanisms for Fe-induced cell death in plants remain largely unknown. S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR) has previously been reported to regulate nitric oxide homeostasis to prevent Fe-induced cell death within root meristems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Nanjing Hospital of Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Preeclampsia is characterized by insufficient invasion of extravillous trophoblasts and is a consequence of failed adaption of extravillous trophoblasts to changes in the intrauterine environment developing embryo. Specific miRNAs are implicated in the development of preeclampsia (PE). miR-455-5p is present at low levels in PE but its role is not known.
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