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Author: B. Rosemary Grant
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226305905
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 394
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Book Description
The result of one of the most detailed and careful examinations of the behavior and ecology of a vertebrate ever conducted in the wild, this study addresses one of the major questions in evolutionary biology: why do some populations vary so much in morphological, ecological, behavioral, and physiological traits? By documenting the full range of variation within one population of a species and investigating the causal factors, Rosemary and Peter Grant provide impressive evidence that species are capable of evolutionary change within observable periods of time. Among the most dramatic examples of recent speciation and adaptive diversification are Darwin's Finches, which live in the Galápagos Islands. Darwin theorized that these closely related birds had evolved from a common ancestor to fill the available ecological niches on this remote archipelago. Not only have they evolved into thirteen species, but more recent study has shown that many of them exhibit striking variation in beak structure and other traits. For more than a decade, the Grants have studied one of these species, the large cactus finch, on the isolated Isla Genovesa. They present information on the environment and demographic features of the population, then discuss the range of genetic, ecological, and behavioral factors responsible for the unusually large morphological variation. They place the large cactus finch in its community setting to better understand its evolution and conclude by discussing the implications of the study for the genetic structure of small populations and the problems of conserving them. They illustrate their findings with an array of drawings, tables, and photographs.
Author: B. Rosemary Grant
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226305905
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 394
Get Book Here
Book Description
The result of one of the most detailed and careful examinations of the behavior and ecology of a vertebrate ever conducted in the wild, this study addresses one of the major questions in evolutionary biology: why do some populations vary so much in morphological, ecological, behavioral, and physiological traits? By documenting the full range of variation within one population of a species and investigating the causal factors, Rosemary and Peter Grant provide impressive evidence that species are capable of evolutionary change within observable periods of time. Among the most dramatic examples of recent speciation and adaptive diversification are Darwin's Finches, which live in the Galápagos Islands. Darwin theorized that these closely related birds had evolved from a common ancestor to fill the available ecological niches on this remote archipelago. Not only have they evolved into thirteen species, but more recent study has shown that many of them exhibit striking variation in beak structure and other traits. For more than a decade, the Grants have studied one of these species, the large cactus finch, on the isolated Isla Genovesa. They present information on the environment and demographic features of the population, then discuss the range of genetic, ecological, and behavioral factors responsible for the unusually large morphological variation. They place the large cactus finch in its community setting to better understand its evolution and conclude by discussing the implications of the study for the genetic structure of small populations and the problems of conserving them. They illustrate their findings with an array of drawings, tables, and photographs.
Author: Andrew P. Hendry
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691204179
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 410
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Book Description
In recent years, scientists have realized that evolution can occur on timescales much shorter than the 'long lapse of ages' emphasized by Darwin - in fact, evolutionary change is occurring all around us all the time. This work provides an authoritative and accessible introduction to eco-evolutionary dynamics, a cutting-edge new field that seeks to unify evolution and ecology into a common conceptual framework focusing on rapid and dynamic environmental and evolutionary change.
Author: Josef Hofbauer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521625708
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 356
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Book Description
Every form of behaviour is shaped by trial and error. Such stepwise adaptation can occur through individual learning or through natural selection, the basis of evolution. Since the work of Maynard Smith and others, it has been realised how game theory can model this process. Evolutionary game theory replaces the static solutions of classical game theory by a dynamical approach centred not on the concept of rational players but on the population dynamics of behavioural programmes. In this book the authors investigate the nonlinear dynamics of the self-regulation of social and economic behaviour, and of the closely related interactions between species in ecological communities. Replicator equations describe how successful strategies spread and thereby create new conditions which can alter the basis of their success, i.e. to enable us to understand the strategic and genetic foundations of the endless chronicle of invasions and extinctions which punctuate evolution. In short, evolutionary game theory describes when to escalate a conflict, how to elicit cooperation, why to expect a balance of the sexes, and how to understand natural selection in mathematical terms.
Author: Martin A. Nowak
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674417755
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 390
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Book Description
At a time of unprecedented expansion in the life sciences, evolution is the one theory that transcends all of biology. Any observation of a living system must ultimately be interpreted in the context of its evolution. Evolutionary change is the consequence of mutation and natural selection, which are two concepts that can be described by mathematical equations. Evolutionary Dynamics is concerned with these equations of life. In this book, Martin A. Nowak draws on the languages of biology and mathematics to outline the mathematical principles according to which life evolves. His work introduces readers to the powerful yet simple laws that govern the evolution of living systems, no matter how complicated they might seem. Evolution has become a mathematical theory, Nowak suggests, and any idea of an evolutionary process or mechanism should be studied in the context of the mathematical equations of evolutionary dynamics. His book presents a range of analytical tools that can be used to this end: fitness landscapes, mutation matrices, genomic sequence space, random drift, quasispecies, replicators, the Prisoner’s Dilemma, games in finite and infinite populations, evolutionary graph theory, games on grids, evolutionary kaleidoscopes, fractals, and spatial chaos. Nowak then shows how evolutionary dynamics applies to critical real-world problems, including the progression of viral diseases such as AIDS, the virulence of infectious agents, the unpredictable mutations that lead to cancer, the evolution of altruism, and even the evolution of human language. His book makes a clear and compelling case for understanding every living system—and everything that arises as a consequence of living systems—in terms of evolutionary dynamics.
Author:
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128014334
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 392
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Book Description
The theme of this volume is to discuss Eco-evolutionary Dynamics. Updates and informs the reader on the latest research findings Written by leading experts in the field Highlights areas for future investigation
Author: Corina Elena Tarnita
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 306
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Book Description
Life is that which evolves. Evolutionary dynamics shape the living world around us. At the center of every evolutionary process is a population of reproducing individuals. These individuals can be molecules, cells, viruses, multi-cellular organisms or humans with language, hopes and some rationality. The laws of evolution are formulated in terms of mathematical equations. Whenever the fitness of individuals depends on the relative abundance of various strategies or phenotypes in the population, then we are in the realm of evolutionary game theory. Evolutionary game theory is a fairly general approach that helps to understand the interaction of species in an ecosystem, the interaction between hosts and parasites, between viruses and cells, and also the spread of ideas and behaviors in the human population. Here we present recent results on stochastic dynamics in finite sized and structured populations. We derive fundamental laws that determine how natural selection chooses between competing strategies. Two of the results are concerned with the study of multiple strategies and continuous strategies in a well-mixed population. Next we introduce a new way to think of population structure: set-structured populations. Unlike previous structures, the sets are dynamical: the population structure itself is a consequence of evolutionary dynamics. I will present a general mathematical approach for studying any evolutionary game in this structure. Finally, I give a general result which characterizes two-strategy games in any structured population.
Author: G. S. Mani
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642515886
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 323
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Book Description
Author: Jan Michiels
Publisher: Humana
ISBN: 9781493928538
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
This volume presents a comprehensive collection of methods that have been instrumental to the current understanding of bacterial persisters. Chapters in the book cover topics ranging from general methods for measuring persister levels in Escherichia coli cultures, protocols for the determination of the persister subpopulation in Candida albicans, quantitative measurements of Type I and Type II persisters using ScanLag, to in vitro and in vivo models for the study of the intracellular activity of antibiotics. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Bacterial Persistence: Methods and Protocols brings together the most respected researchers in bacterial persistence whose studies will remain vital to understanding this field for many years to come.
Author: Fabio Dercole
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400828341
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 360
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Book Description
Quantitative approaches to evolutionary biology traditionally consider evolutionary change in isolation from an important pressure in natural selection: the demography of coevolving populations. In Analysis of Evolutionary Processes, Fabio Dercole and Sergio Rinaldi have written the first comprehensive book on Adaptive Dynamics (AD), a quantitative modeling approach that explicitly links evolutionary changes to demographic ones. The book shows how the so-called AD canonical equation can answer questions of paramount interest in biology, engineering, and the social sciences, especially economics. After introducing the basics of evolutionary processes and classifying available modeling approaches, Dercole and Rinaldi give a detailed presentation of the derivation of the AD canonical equation, an ordinary differential equation that focuses on evolutionary processes driven by rare and small innovations. The authors then look at important features of evolutionary dynamics as viewed through the lens of AD. They present their discovery of the first chaotic evolutionary attractor, which calls into question the common view that coevolution produces exquisitely harmonious adaptations between species. And, opening up potential new lines of research by providing the first application of AD to economics, they show how AD can explain the emergence of technological variety. Analysis of Evolutionary Processes will interest anyone looking for a self-contained treatment of AD for self-study or teaching, including graduate students and researchers in mathematical and theoretical biology, applied mathematics, and theoretical economics.
Author: Saurabh Rajendra Gandhi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 98
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Book Description
Spatial expansions occur across multiple scales, from the expanding range of a species to the growth of tumors and microbial biofilms. In ecology, range expansions are becoming more frequent due to environmental changes and rare long distance dispersal, often facilitated by anthropogenic activities. Simple models in theoretical ecology explain many emergent properties of range expansions, such as a constant expansion velocity, in terms of organism-level properties such as growth and dispersal rates. Moreover, the evolution and potentially even the survival of an expanding population depends on its genetic diversity, which is also predicted to reduce drastically during range expansions. However, testing these quantitative predictions in natural populations is difficult because of large environmental variability and the inability of replicating historical processes. In this thesis, I describe the use of a microbial model system to gain a deeper understanding of spatial range expansions in a controlled and replicable setting. In particularly, I study the role of cooperative growth in spatial expansions. Given the prevalence of cooperative growth in nature, understanding the effects of cooperativity is essential to managing invading species and understanding their evolution. For non-cooperative growth, the expansion dynamics are dominated by population growth at the low-density front, which pulls the expansion forward. I find these expansions to be in close quantitative agreement with the classical theory of pulled waves by Fisher and Skellam, suitably adapted to my experimental system. However, as cooperativity increases, the expansions transition to being pushed, i.e. controlled by growth in the bulk as well as in the front. In addition to the population dynamics, cooperation within populations is also predicted to significantly alter the evolutionary fate of expanding populations. This difference in evolutionary dynamics within pulled and pushed waves is also studied experimentally.
