Scholarlink

<p>Interspecific competition drives ecological niche partitioning, biodiversity maintenance, and social structure evolution, yet empirical evidence for its role in rapid evolution remains limited. We examined whether competitive pressures could accelerate life history divergence in two zooplankton species, <i>Ceriodaphnia cornuta</i> and <i>Moina micrura</i>, using an experimental evolution approach. Under controlled competitive conditions, the life-history traits (survival, fecundity, and body size) were tracked in newborns over 10-d intervals across generations. <i>C. cornuta</i>, the dominant competitor in monocultures and mixtures, responded to competition by accelerating neonate maturation, reducing neonate body size, thereby reinforcing its ecological dominance. Conversely, subordinate <i>M. micrura</i> delayed first reproduction and reduced adult body size to conserve resources under competitive stress. Crucially, competition induced rapid life history divergence between the species, with both employing reproductive trade-offs and morphological plasticity. This study provided direct experimental evidence for rapid evolution driven by competition, and elucidated a potential mechanism by which evolutionary processes may maintain ecological equilibrium.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Rapid evolution of life history of two water fleas in response to inter-specific competition

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月4日

查看全文
  • Jiasheng Yang,
  • Jianan Li,
  • Ailing Yan,
  • Haoran Zhang,
  • Qianqian Wei,
  • Xiaodong Jiang

摘要

Interspecific competition drives ecological niche partitioning, biodiversity maintenance, and social structure evolution, yet empirical evidence for its role in rapid evolution remains limited. We examined whether competitive pressures could accelerate life history divergence in two zooplankton species, Ceriodaphnia cornuta and Moina micrura, using an experimental evolution approach. Under controlled competitive conditions, the life-history traits (survival, fecundity, and body size) were tracked in newborns over 10-d intervals across generations. C. cornuta, the dominant competitor in monocultures and mixtures, responded to competition by accelerating neonate maturation, reducing neonate body size, thereby reinforcing its ecological dominance. Conversely, subordinate M. micrura delayed first reproduction and reduced adult body size to conserve resources under competitive stress. Crucially, competition induced rapid life history divergence between the species, with both employing reproductive trade-offs and morphological plasticity. This study provided direct experimental evidence for rapid evolution driven by competition, and elucidated a potential mechanism by which evolutionary processes may maintain ecological equilibrium.