Dispersal stabilizes coupled ecological and evolutionary dynamics in a host-parasitoid system
Lucas A. Nell, Miriam Kishinevsky, Michael J. Bosch, Calvin Sinclair, K. S. Arpitha Bhat, Nathan Ernst, Hamze Boulaleh, Kerry M. Oliver, Anthony R. Ives
Abstract
When ecological and evolutionary dynamics occur on comparable timescales, persistence of the ensuing eco-evolutionary dynamics requires both ecological and evolutionary stability. This unites key questions in ecology and evolution: How do species coexist, and what maintains genetic variation in a population? In this work, we investigated a host-parasitoid system in which pea aphid hosts rapidly evolve resistance to Aphidius ervi parasitoids. Field data and mathematical simulations showed that heterogeneity in parasitoid dispersal can generate variation in parasitism-mediated selection on hosts through time and space. Experiments showed how evolutionary trade-offs plus moderate host dispersal across this selection mosaic cause host-parasitoid coexistence and maintenance of genetic variation in host resistance. Our results show how dispersal can stabilize both the ecological and evolutionary components of eco-evolutionary dynamics.