Evolutionary rescue in a changing world.
By S. Carlson, Curry J. Cunningham, Peter A. H. Westley. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2014
605 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Evolutionary rescue occurs when adaptive evolutionary change restores positive growth to declining populations and prevents extinction. Here we outline the diagnostic features of evolutionary rescue and distinguish this phenomenon from demographic and genetic rescue. We then synthesize the rapidly accumulating theoretical and experimental studies of evolutionary rescue, highlighting the demographic, genetic, and extrinsic factors that affect the probability of rescue. By doing so, we clarify the factors to target through management and conservation. Additionally, we identify several putative cases of evolutionary rescue in nature, but conclude that compelling evidence remains elusive. We conclude with a horizon scan of where the field might develop, highlighting areas of potential application, and suggest areas where experimental evaluation will help to evaluate theoretical predictions.
Subfields: Genetics
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/647ef19dc7ba2f860ce186016beb67b689e595e3
How researchers see this paper
The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.
In Genetics
Citations in the corpus
- Hybridization as a conservation management tool (2019, methodology): “Genetic rescue is applicable to small and isolated populations that typically have low genetic diversity and often suffer from inbreeding depression (Carlson et al., 2014; Whiteley et al., 2015).”
- Impacts of Invasive Species on Food Webs: A Review of Empirical Data (2017, background): “Evolution of resistance to pesticides and antibiotics are now major constraints affecting economies worldwide (Carlson et al., 2014).”
- The Contemporary Evolution of Fitness (2018, background): “Although definitive examples of evolutionary rescue in the wild are very rare (Gomulkiewicz & Shaw 2013, Vander Wal et al. 2013, Carlson et al. 2014), evidence from laboratory studies is extensive (Bell 2017).”