Speciation along environmental gradients (original) (raw)

Nature volume 421, pages 259–264 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Traditional discussions of speciation are based on geographical patterns of species ranges1,2. In allopatric speciation, long-term geographical isolation generates reproductively isolated and spatially segregated descendant species1,3. In the absence of geographical barriers, diversification is hindered by gene flow1,3,4. Yet a growing body of phylogenetic and experimental data suggests that closely related species often occur in sympatry or have adjacent ranges in regions over which environmental changes are gradual and do not prevent gene flow5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14. Theory has identified a variety of evolutionary processes that can result in speciation under sympatric conditions15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25, with some recent advances concentrating on the phenomenon of evolutionary branching18,23,24,25. Here we establish a link between geographical patterns and ecological processes of speciation by studying evolutionary branching in spatially structured populations. We show that along an environmental gradient, evolutionary branching can occur much more easily than in non-spatial models. This facilitation is most pronounced for gradients of intermediate slope. Moreover, spatial evolutionary branching readily generates patterns of spatial segregation and abutment between the emerging species. Our results highlight the importance of local processes of adaptive divergence for geographical patterns of speciation, and caution against pitfalls of inferring past speciation processes from present biogeographical patterns.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year

only $3.90 per issue

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Mayr, E. Animal Species and Evolution (Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1963)
    Book Google Scholar
  2. Endler, J. A. Geographic Variation, Speciation, and Clines (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1977)
    Google Scholar
  3. Coyne, J. A. Genetics and speciation. Nature 355, 511–515 (1992)
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  4. Felsenstein, J. Scepticism towards Santa Rosalia, or why are there so few kinds of animals. Evolution 35, 124–138 (1981)
    Article Google Scholar
  5. Schliewen, U. K., Tautz, D. & Pääbo, S. Sympatric speciation suggested by monophyly of crater lake cichlids. Nature 368, 629–632 (1994)
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  6. Schluter, D. Experimental evidence that competition promotes divergence in adaptive radiation. Science 266, 798–801 (1994)
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  7. Johannesson, K., Rolán-Alvarez, E. & Ekendahl, A. Incipient reproductive isolation between two sympatric morphs of the intertidal snail Littorina saxatilis. Evolution 49, 1180–1190 (1995)
    Article Google Scholar
  8. Knox, E. B. & Palmer, J. D. Chloroplast DNA variation and the recent radiation of giant senecios (Asteraceae) on the tall mountains of Eastern Africa. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 92, 10349–10353 (1995)
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  9. Feder, J. L. Endless Forms (eds Howard, D. J. & Berlocher, S. H.) 130–144 (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, UK, 1998)
    Google Scholar
  10. Rainey, P. B. & Travisano, M. Adaptive radiation in a heterogeneous environment. Nature 394, 69–72 (1998)
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  11. Gislason, D., Ferguson, M., Skulason, S. & Snorrason, S. S. Rapid and coupled phenotypic and genetic divergence in Icelandic Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus). Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 56, 2229–2234 (1999)
    Article Google Scholar
  12. Schliewen, U. K., Rassmann, K., Markmann, M., Markert, J. & Tautz, D. Genetic and ecological divergence of a monophyletic cichlid species pair under fully sympatric conditions in Lake Ejagham, Cameroon. Mol. Ecol. 10, 1471–1488 (2001)
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  13. Wilding, C. S., Butlin, R. K. & Grahame, J. Differential gene exchange between parapatric morphs of Littorina saxatilis detected using AFLP markers. J. Evol. Biol. 14, 611–618 (2001)
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  14. Via, S. Sympatric speciation in animals: the ugly duckling grows up. Trends Ecol. Evol. 16, 381–390 (2001)
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  15. Lande, R. Rapid origin of sexual isolation and character divergence in a cline. Evolution 36, 213–223 (1982)
    Article Google Scholar
  16. Kawecki, T. J. Sympatric speciation via habitat specialization driven by deleterious mutations. Evolution 51, 1751–1763 (1997)
    Article Google Scholar
  17. Kondrashov, A. S. & Kondrashov, F. A. Interactions among quantitative traits in the course of sympatric speciation. Nature 400, 351–354 (1999)
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  18. Dieckmann, U. & Doebeli, M. On the origin of species by sympatric speciation. Nature 400, 354–357 (1999)
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  19. Van Doorn, G. S., Luttikhuizen, P. C. & Weissing, F. J. Sexual selection at the protein level drives the extraordinary divergence of sex-related genes during sympatric speciation. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 268, 2155–2161 (2001)
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  20. Gavrilets, S. & Waxman, D. Sympatric speciation by sexual conflict. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 99, 10533–10538 (2002)
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  21. Mizera, F. & Meszéna, G. Spatial niche packing, character displacement and adpative speciation in an environmental gradient. Evol. Ecol. Res. (in the press)
  22. Turelli, M., Barton, N. H. & Coyne, J. A. Theory and speciation. Trends Ecol. Evol. 16, 330–343 (2001)
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  23. Geritz, S. A. H., Kisdi, E., Meszéna, G. & Metz, J. A. J. Evolutionarily singular strategies and the adaptive growth and branching of the evolutionary tree. Evol. Ecol. 12, 35–57 (1998)
    Article Google Scholar
  24. Doebeli, M. & Dieckmann, U. Evolutionary branching and sympatric speciation caused by different types of ecological interactions. Am. Nat. 156, S77–S101 (2000)
    Article Google Scholar
  25. Kisdi, E. Evolutionary branching under asymmetric competition. J. Theor. Biol. 197, 149–162 (1999)
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  26. Case, T. J. & Taper, M. L. Interspecific competition, environmental gradients, gene flow, and the coevolution of species' borders. Am. Nat. 155, 583–605 (2000)
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  27. Slatkin, M. Spatial patterns in the distribution of polygenic characters. J. Theor. Biol. 70, 213–228 (1978)
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  28. Barton, N. H. Clines in polygenic traits. Genet. Res. 74, 223–236 (1999)
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  29. Barraclough, T. G. & Vogler, A. P. Detecting the geographical pattern of speciation from species-level phylogenies. Am. Nat. 155, 419–434 (2000)
    Article Google Scholar
  30. Dieckmann, U., Law, R. & Metz, J. A. J. The Geometry of Ecological Interactions: Simplifying Spatial Complexity (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK, 2000)
    Book Google Scholar

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank H. Metz, D. Tautz, G. Meszéna, D. Schluter, E. Knox, O. Leimar, M. Kirkpatrick and T. Barraclough for discussions and comments. The order of authors is reverse alphabetical.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Zoology and Mathematics, University of British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, Canada
    Michael Doebeli
  2. Adaptive Dynamics Network, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, A-2361, Laxenburg, Austria
    Ulf Dieckmann

Authors

  1. Michael Doebeli
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  2. Ulf Dieckmann
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence toMichael Doebeli.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Doebeli, M., Dieckmann, U. Speciation along environmental gradients.Nature 421, 259–264 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01274

Download citation

This article is cited by