Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T13:39:34.241Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Evolutionary Dynamics of Aposematism: a Numerical Analysisof Co-Evolution in Finite Populations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2014

J. Teichmann ,
M. Broom  and
E. Alonso
J. Teichmann*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematical Science, City University London Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB
M. Broom
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematical Science, City University London Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB
E. Alonso
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, City University London Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB
*
⋆Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The majority of species are under predatory risk in their natural habitat and targeted bypredators as part of the food web. During the evolution of ecosystems, manifold mechanismshave emerged to avoid predation. So called secondary defences, which are used after apredator has initiated prey-catching behaviour, commonly involve the expression of toxinsor deterrent substances which are not observable by the predator. Hence, the possession ofsuch secondary defence in many prey species comes with a specific signal of that defence(aposematism). This paper builds on the ideas of existing models of such signallingbehaviour, using a model of co-evolution and generalisation of aversive information andintroduces a new methodology of numerical analysis for finite populations. This newmethodology significantly improves the accessibility of previous models.

In finite populations, investigating the co-evolution of defence and signalling requiresan understanding of natural selection as well as an assessment of the effects of drift asan additional force acting on stability. The new methodology is able to reproduce thepredicted solutions of preceding models and finds additional solutions involving negativecorrelation between signal strength and the extent of secondary defence. In addition,genetic drift extends the range of stable aposematic solutions through the introduction ofa new pseudo-stability and gives new insights into the diversification of aposematicdisplays.

Keywords

predator-prey, co-evolutiondriftfinite populationadaptive dynamics
Type
Research Article
Information
Mathematical Modelling of Natural Phenomena , Volume 9 , Issue 3: Biological evolution , 2014 , pp. 148 - 164
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blount, J. D., Speed, M. P., Ruxton, G. D., Stephens, P. A.. Warning displays may function as honest signals of toxicity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276 (2009), 871-877. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
M. Broom, G. D. Ruxton, M. P. Speed. Evolutionarily stable investment in anti-predatory defences and aposematic signalling. Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems, volume 2 of Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology, (2008), 37–48.
Broom, M., Speed, M., Ruxton, G.. Evolutionarily stable defence and signalling of that defence. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 242 (2006), 32–34. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christiansen, F.. On conditions for evolutionary stability for a continuously varying character. American Naturalist, 138 (1991), 37–50. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cortesi, F., Cheney, K. L.. Conspicuousness is correlated with toxicity in marine opisthobranchs. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 23 (2010), 1509–1518. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellegren, H.. A selection model of molecular evolution incorporating the effective population size. Evolution, 63 (2009), 301–305. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Endler, J.. An overview of the relationships between mimicry and crypsis. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 16 (1981), 25–31. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Endler, J.. Progressive background in moths, and a quantitative measure of crypsis. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 22 (1984), 187–231. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gamberale, G., Tullberg, B.. Evidence for a peak-shift in predator generalization among aposematic prey. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 263 (1996), 1329–1334. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gamberale-Stille, G., Guilford, T.. Automimicry destabilizes aposematism: predator sample-and-reject behaviour may provide a solution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 271 (2004), 2621–2625. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keehn, J.. The effect of a warning signal on unrestricted avoidance behaviour. British Journal of Psychology, 50 (1959), 125–135. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, T. J., Marples, N. M., Speed, M. P.. Can dietary conservatism explain the primary evolution of aposematism? Animal Behaviour, 79 (2010), 63–74. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, T. J., Speed, M. P., Stephens, P. A.. Honest signaling and the uses of prey coloration. American Society of Naturalists, 178 (2011), E1–E9. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leimar, O., Enquist, M., Sillen-Tullberg, B.. Evolutionary stability of aposematic coloration and prey unprofitability: A theoretical analysis. American Naturalist, 128 (1986), 469–490. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindström, L., Alatalo, R., Lyytinen, A., Mappes, J.. Strong antiapostatic selection against novel rare aposematic prey. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98 (2001), 9181–9184. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Longson, C. G., Joss, J. M. P.. Optimal toxicity in animals: predicting the optimal level of chemical defences. Functional Ecology, 20 (2006), 731–735. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mappes, J., Marples, N., Endler, J. A.. The complex business of survival by aposematism. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 20 (2005), 598–603. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marples, N. M., Kelly, D. J., Thomas, R. J.. Perspective: The evolution of warning coloration is not paradoxical. Evolution, 59 (2005), 933–940. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masel, J.. Genetic drift. Current Biology, 21 (2011), R837–R838. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merilaita, S., Tuomi, J., Jormalainen, V.. Optimization of cryptic coloration in heterogeneous habitats. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 67 (1999), 151–161. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
P. Moran. The statistical processes of evolutionary theory. Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press., 1962.
M. Nowak. Evolutionary dynamics: exploring the equations of life. Belknap Press, 2006.
S. Poulton. The colours of animals: their meaning and use, especially considered in the case of insects. D. Appleton and company, 1890.
G. Ruxton, T. Sherratt, M. Speed. Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Warning Signals and Mimicry. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Ruxton, G., Speed, M., Broom, M.. Identifying the ecological conditions that select for intermediate levels of aposematic signalling. Evolutionary Ecology, 23 (2009), 491–501. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, R. S., Davis, S. C., Speed, M. P.. Defence cheats can degrade protection of chemically defended prey. Ethology, 119 (2013), 52–57. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sherratt, T.. The coevolution of warning signals. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 269 (2002), 741–746. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
M. Speed, G. Ruxton. Aposematism: what should our starting point be? Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 272 (2005), 431–438.
Speed, M., Ruxton, G.. How bright and how nasty: explaining diversity in warning signal strength. Evolution, 61 (2007), 623–635. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Speed, M. P., Ruxton, G. D., Blount, J. D., Stephens, P. A.. Diversification of honest signals in a predatorâĂŞprey system. Ecology Letters, 13 (2010), 744–753. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Summers, K., Clough, M.. The evolution of coloration and toxicity in the poison frog family (dendrobatidae). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98 (2001), 6227–6232. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, C., Fudenberg, D., Sasaki, A., Nowak, M. A.. Evolutionary game dynamics in finite populations. Bulletin of mathematical biology, 66 (2004), 1621–1644. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomas, B.. On evolutionarily stable sets. Journal of Mathematical Biology, 22 (1985), 105–115. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
J. Weibull. Evolutionary game theory. MIT press, 1997.
Whitlock, M.. Fixation of new alleles and the extinction of small populations: drift load, beneficial alleles, and sexual selection. Evolution, 54 (2000), 1855–1861. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willi, Y., Griffin, P., Van Buskirk, J.. Drift load in populations of small size and low density. Heredity, 110 (2012), 296–302. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, K., Smith, K., Stephen, F.. Emergence of 13-yr periodical cicadas (cicadidae: Magicicada): phenology, mortality, and predators satiation. Ecology, 74 (1993), 1143–1152. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yachi, S., Higashi, M.. The evolution of warning signals. Nature, 394 (1998), 882–884. Google Scholar