Phylogenetically‐conserved candidate genes unify biodiversity–ecosystem function relationships and eco‐evolutionary dynamics across biological scales

Abstract

The intra-and interspecific facets of biodiversity have traditionally been analysed separately, limiting our understanding of how evolution has shaped biodiversity, how biodiversity (as a whole) alters ecological dynamics and hence eco-evolutionary feedbacks at the community scale. Here, we propose using candidate genes phylogenetically-conserved across species and sustaining functional traits as an inclusive biodiversity unit transcending the intra-and interspecific boundaries. This

Genetic diversity affects ecosystem functions across trophic levels as much as species diversity, but in an opposite direction

“…As such, it appears essential to maintain populations with high levels of genetic diversity in these ecosystems. Future studies should (i) extend these findings to other ecosystems and by quantifying natural genetic variation in more than a single species per trophic level, (ii) generate theoretical predictions regarding the mechanisms sustaining the antagonistic effects of genetic and species diversity on functions we revealed, and (iii) use a broader integrative approach for estimating biodiversity across facets (inclusive biodiversity) by using either a trait-based approach or a genetic-based approach as recently proposed by Blanchet et al (2023) and Loreau et al (2023). We focused on seven ecosystem functions associated with genetic and species diversity at three trophic levels (green for primary producer, orange for primary consumer and blue for secondary consumer).…”

“…Although natural assemblages encompass both intra-and interspecific diversity, most studies investigating BEFs are considering each biodiversity facet separately (but see, Fridley & Grime 2010;Prieto et al 2015;Grele et al 2024). This makes it difficult to differentiate the relative role of genetic and species diversity in ecosystem functions, impeding general predictions regarding the consequences of biodiversity loss as a whole on ecosystem functions (Blanchet et al 2023). For instance, we are currently unaware whether genetic diversity may functionally compensate for a species loss in an (species-poor) ecosystem, whether the loss of genetic diversity within a few species in an assemblage is as detrimental for ecosystem functions as a species loss, or whether the combined loss of genetic and species diversity may have non-additive consequences for ecosystem dynamics.…”

Temporal changes in the role of species sorting and evolution determine community dynamics

“…Our study suggests that the temporal dynamics of the relative roles of ecology and evolution may be driven by the presence of phenotypic/trait variation in the direction of selection, and that evolution becomes more important in the absence of variation within the species pool. Consequently, identifying the conditions under which we can predict the convergence of ecological and evolutionary timescales requires an understanding of the direction of selection and the variation in traits (Hermann et al, 2024;Hermann & Becks, 2022;Scheuerl et al, 2019) and/or the underlying genetics under selection (Barbour et al, 2022;Blanchet et al, 2023;Pantel & Becks, 2023;Yamamichi, 2022).…”

Editorial 2024

“…Blanchet et al. (2023) put forward a framework—based on analyses of phylogenetically conserved candidate genes and associated functional traits—for investigating eco‐evolutionary processes across biological scales.…”

“…As noted by Blair (2023), this is an unfortunate oversight since organellar information can be useful for species identification, as well as for addressing important questions such dispersal mechanisms and the evolution of species limits. Blanchet et al (2023) put forward a framework-based on analyses of phylogenetically conserved candidate genes and associated functional traits-for investigating eco-evolutionary processes across biological scales.…”