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Emergence of a novel prey life history promotes contemporary sympatric diversification in a top predator

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  • Jakob Brodersen

    (Yale University
    Present address: Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, EAWAG Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Centre of Ecology, Evolution and Biogeochemistry, Seestrasse 79, CH-6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland)

  • Jennifer G. Howeth

    (Yale University
    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0206, USA)

  • David M. Post

    (Yale University)

Abstract

Intraspecific phenotypic variation can strongly impact community and ecosystem dynamics. Effects of intraspecific variation in keystone species have been shown to propagate down through the food web by altering the adaptive landscape for other species and creating a cascade of ecological and evolutionary change. However, similar bottom-up eco-evolutionary effects are poorly described. Here we show that life history diversification in a keystone prey species, the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), propagates up through the food web to promote phenotypic diversification in its native top predator, the chain pickerel (Esox niger), on contemporary timescales. The landlocking of alewife by human dam construction has repeatedly created a stable open water prey resource, novel to coastal lakes, that has promoted the parallel emergence of a habitat polymorphism in chain pickerel. Understanding how strong interactions propagate through food webs to influence diversification across multiple trophic levels is critical to understand eco-evolutionary interactions in complex natural ecosystems.

Suggested Citation

  • Jakob Brodersen & Jennifer G. Howeth & David M. Post, 2015. "Emergence of a novel prey life history promotes contemporary sympatric diversification in a top predator," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-9, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms9115
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9115
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