Methods in Evolutionary Ecology

From Observation to Experimental Design

From Question to Hypothesis

From Evidence to Argument

From Hypothesis to Theory

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University, April 2014

• What is Evolution• What is Evolutionary Ecology• What are the methods in evolutionary ecology

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

(c) 2001 by W.H. Freeman and Company

Charle Robert Darwin,1809-18821831-1836 on HMS Beagle

1 On the origin of species, 18592 Darwin, Charles; Wallace, Alfred Russel (1858), "On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection", Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 3: 46–50, doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1858.tb02500.x, retrieved 14 January 2007

Main Concepts of Evolution

• Change in genetic makeup of a population• There is standing genetic variation• The genetic variation is inheritable• The inheritable variation are related to

organism’s fitness• Thus the variation could be adaptive shaped

by natural selection

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

Evolutionary ecology

• Evolutionary ecology lies at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology.

• It approaches the study of ecology in a way that explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and the interactions between them.

• The main subfields of evolutionary ecology are life history evolution, sociobiology (the evolution of social behavior), the evolution of interspecific and the evolution of biodiversity and of communities.

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

Where we can observe genetic variation?

• From phenotypic variation• From karyotype (核型）• From allozyme markers• From molecular markers• From genome (NGS)

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

Track the progress in evolutionary ecology research by following good journals

• Evolutionary Ecology Research - a journal in the field.• Methods in Ecology and Evolution - a journal in the field.• Ecology and Evolution - Wiley• Evolutionary Ecology – Springer• Ecology Letters• Trends in Ecology and Evolution• Journal of Ecology/Journal of Molecular Ecology• Ecology• Oikos• Science/Nature

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

The most important things matter evolutionary ecology of a species

• Sexual or A sexual?• Ploidy?• Sex system?• Mating System?

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

A evolutionary paradox of a beautiful shrub species, Rosa rugosa

• Background• Questions• Methods• Results• Discussion and conclusions

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

Background

The species, Rosa rugosa (Rosaceae)

Natural distribute in East Asia and its invasion in

Europe

Declining in China

Invasion in NW Europe

Sexual and asexual reproduction, self-incompatible,

diploid

Background

The species, Rosa rugosa (Rosaceae)

Natural distribution in East Asia and its

invasion in Europe

Declining in China

Invasion in NW Europe

Background

The species, Rosa rugosa (Rosaceae)

Natural distribution in East Asia and its

invasion in Europe

Declining in China

Invasion in NW Europe

Invasion in NW Europe

① It was firstly introduced into GB in 1796, established in gardens in the 1870s, first recorded in the wild of Cumberland in 1927.

② Then the naturalized distribution was recorded in 16 European countries between the latitudes c. 46°and 68°N. (Bruun,2005)

③ It competed habitat, pollinators with the native species and excluded native Rosa species (Isermann, 2008) or hybridized with native Rosa species.

(Bruun, 2005)

Why is R. rugosa?① The species take some advantages as a research

system for study adaptation and evolution of shrub plant.

② Multiple introduction, no loss of genetic diversity and evolved new variation from native populations .(Kelager et al, 2012) and loss of genetic diversity in the populations of China (Yang et al, 2009) have been found.

③ There is no report about differences in growth and reprodution between the invasive populations of NW Europe and the declining populations of China.

Outline

Background

Questions

Methods

Results

Discussion and conclusions

New questions

Questions

1. Does Rosa rugosa Thunb. perform better in the invasive populations of NW Europe than in the declining populations of China?

2. What are differences in growth and reproduction between the invasive populations of NW Europe and the declining populations of China?

3. What are differences in growth and reproduction between shrubs within population?

Outline

Background

Questions

Methods

Results

Discussion and conclusions

New questions

Methods

1. Five invasive populations, Two declining populations and 10-16 shrub

patches from each population.

2. Two plots (at center and edge of the shrub patch) of 1 m2 within each

shrub patch.

3. Measured the traits related to growth and reproduction: Height (cm),

cover(%), hip number of R. rugosa in each plot of 1 m2.

4. Collected 40 hips from each shrub patch.

5. Measured the hip length(mm), width(mm), seed number per hip of 10

hips from each shrub patch to calculate the seed production.

6. Determined the weight per hundred seeds 3 times for each shrub patch.

Location/Country Abbreviation Sample Size(Shrub number)

Habitat

Invasive expanding populations in Northwest Europe

Langeoog/Germany LAN 15 Manmade sand dunes against North Sea

Hundige/Denmark HUN 14 Manmade sand beach along Baltic Sea coast

Dragor/Denmark DRA 11 Sand beach along Baltic Sea coast

Heatherhill/Denmark HEA 11 Sand cliff along Kattegat Bay coast, connecting Baltic Sea and North Sea.

Scanor/ Sweden SKA 12 Sand beach Baltic Sea coast

Total 5 63

Native endangered populations in China

Muping/ China MP 10 Sand beach along Bohai Sea

Hunchun/ China HCH 10 Sand dunes along Tumenjiang River Valley

Total 2 20

Table 1 Location, sample size and habitat of each investigated R. rugosa population.

Statistical analysis of data

• t-test• One way and multiways ANOVA, ANCOVA,

linear regression, descriptive statistics.• Software: Origin 9.0, R 3.0.3 (Packages: HH,

Lattice, ggplot2, ggmap etc.)

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

Outline

• Background

• Questions

• Methods

• Results

• Discussion and conclusions

• New questions

Results

1. Differences between introduced and native

populations

2. Differences between all populations

3. Differences between shrubs within populations

Differences between introduced and native populations

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

Invasive Native

01

00

02

00

03

00

04

00

05

00

06

00

07

00

0

Population type

Se

ed

nu

mb

er

pe

r sq

ua

re m

ete

r

Differences between all populations

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

Differences between shrubs within populations

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

Population or genotype differentiation

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

ln.Seed.number. ~ Cover + Population

Cover

ln.S

eed

.nu

mb

er.

4

5

6

7

8

9

20 40 60 80 100

DRA

20 40 60 80 100

HEA

20 40 60 80 100

HUN

20 40 60 80 100

LAN

20 40 60 80 100

MP

20 40 60 80 100

SKA

20 40 60 80 100

superpose

PopulationDRAHEAHUNLANMPSKA

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

Outline

• Background

• Questions

• Methods

• Results

• Discussion and conclusions

• New questions

Discussion and conclusion

1. The factors impact growth and reproduction: climate, soil nutrients, moisture and salinity, management and age of the shrub patches, local genetic variation.

2. Standing genetic diversity from multiple introduction has an effects on adaptive potential.

3. Historical artificial selection and management may act as important factors driving population dynamics

Discussion and conclusion

1. The factors impact growth and reproduction: climate, soil nutrients, moisture and salinity, management and age of the shrub patches, local genetic variation.

2. Standing genetic diversity from multiple introduction has an effects on adaptive potential.

3. Historical artificial selection and management may act as important factors driving population dynamics

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1

20

40

60

80

10

0

Length width ratio of hip

Se

ed

nu

mb

er

pe

r h

ip

68

44

From Kelager et al, 2012

Conclusion

Does Rosa rugosa Thunb. perform better in NW Europe than in China?

Yes.What are differences in growth and reproduction between the

invasive populations of NW Europe than in the declining populations of China?

All measured traits were significantly higher in the invasive population than in the declining populations of China.

Do all population and shrubs within populations present similar growth and reproduction?

No, There are some specific populations and shrubs presenting significantly high growth and reproduction.

Take an adventure in ecology and evolution of invasive plants

• What is plant invasion?• What happened with the performance related

traits of invasive species?• How do invasive plant species adapt to and

evolve in a novel environment?• Standing genetic diversity? High phenotypic

plasticity? Novel genetic variation? Epigenetic variation?

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014

Go through the selected papers and discuss on

• What is the hypothesis of the paper?• What methods did the researchers use?• What was the sampling strategy, experiment

design or/and data analysis methods?• What are the main conclusions?

By Shuping Zhang , Institue of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University,

April 2014