Evol Ecol Res 8: 1155-1171 (2006)     Full PDF if your library subscribes.

Putting evolutionary biology back in the ecological theatre: a demographic framework mapping genes to communities

T. Coulson,1* T.G. Benton,2 P. Lundberg,3 S.R.X. Dall4 and B.E. Kendall5

1Department of Biological Science and Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK,  2School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK, 3Department of Theoretical Ecology, Lund University, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden,  4Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter in Cornwall, Tremough Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK and 5Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5131, USA

Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.
e-mail: t.coulson@imperial.ac.uk

ABSTRACT

Question: How can we link genotypic, phenotypic, individual, population, and community levels of organization so as to illuminate general ecological and evolutionary processes and provide a framework for a quantitative, integrative evolutionary biology?

Framework: We introduce an evolutionary framework that maps different levels of biological diversity onto one another. We provide (1) an overview of maps linking levels of biological organization and (2) a guideline of how to analyse the complexity of relationships from genes to population growth.

Method: We specify the appropriate levels of biological organization for responses to selection, for opportunities for selection, and for selection itself. We map between them and embed these maps into an ecological setting.

Keywords: demography, dynamics, evolutionary change, response to selection, selection.

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