Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Dispersal: a central and independent trait in life history

Dries Bonte, Maxime Dahirel
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/065151
Dries Bonte
Ghent University, Dept. Biology, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium contact:
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: dries.bonte@ugent.be
Maxime Dahirel
Ghent University, Dept. Biology, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium contact:
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: dries.bonte@ugent.be
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

The study of trade-offs among major life history components (age at maturity, lifespan and reproduction) allowed the development of a quantitative framework to understand how environmental variation shapes patterns of biodiversity among and within species.

Because every environment is inherently spatially structured, and in most cases temporally variable, individuals need to move within and among habitats to maximize fitness. Dispersal is often assumed to be tightly integrated into life histories through genetic correlations with other vital traits. This assumption is particularly strong within the context of a fast-slow continuum of life-history variation. Such a framework is to date used to explain many aspects of population and community dynamics. Evidence for a consistent and context-independent integration of dispersal in life histories is, however, weak. We therefore advocate the explicit integration of dispersal into life history theory as a principal axis of variation influencing fitness, that is free to evolve, independently of other life history traits.

We synthesize theoretical and empirical evidence on the central role of dispersal and its evolutionary dynamics on the spatial distribution of ecological strategies and its impact on population spread, invasions and coexistence. By applying an optimality framework we show that the inclusion of dispersal as an independent dimension of life histories might substantially change our view on evolutionary trajectories in spatially structured environments.

Because changes in the spatial configuration of habitats affect the costs of movement and dispersal, adaptations to reduce these costs will increase phenotypic divergence among and within populations. We outline how this phenotypic heterogeneity is anticipated to further impact population and community dynamics.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted October 01, 2016.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Dispersal: a central and independent trait in life history
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Dispersal: a central and independent trait in life history
Dries Bonte, Maxime Dahirel
bioRxiv 065151; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/065151
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Dispersal: a central and independent trait in life history
Dries Bonte, Maxime Dahirel
bioRxiv 065151; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/065151

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Ecology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4665)
  • Biochemistry (10324)
  • Bioengineering (7649)
  • Bioinformatics (26270)
  • Biophysics (13487)
  • Cancer Biology (10658)
  • Cell Biology (15386)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (8474)
  • Ecology (12794)
  • Epidemiology (2067)
  • Evolutionary Biology (16811)
  • Genetics (11377)
  • Genomics (15441)
  • Immunology (10589)
  • Microbiology (25111)
  • Molecular Biology (10182)
  • Neuroscience (54287)
  • Paleontology (399)
  • Pathology (1663)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2885)
  • Physiology (4329)
  • Plant Biology (9220)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1584)
  • Synthetic Biology (2548)
  • Systems Biology (6766)
  • Zoology (1459)