Mathematical Models in Evolutionary Ecology

A special issue of Mathematics (ISSN 2227-7390). This special issue belongs to the section "Mathematical Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2024) | Viewed by 2093

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Museum für Naturkunde, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Interests: population genetics; evolutionary biology; probability theory

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mathematical models are essential to our understanding of the natural world. The process by which we continue to learn and understand the mechanics driving natural phenomena often begins with verbal hypotheses explaining an observation, from which one extracts the essential components into a tractable mathematical theory. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is a case in point. However, just as natural populations evolve, so do our models of the natural world. In addition, advances in molecular techniques for obtaining whole-genome sequence data could revolutionize our ability to test hypotheses of evolution and ecology.

An example of model evolution concerns recruitment dynamics, and the mechanics shaping individual recruitment success, which are central to our understanding of evolution and ecology. The Wright–Fisher model of individual recruitment success (offspring number distribution) has been a cornerstone of mathematical population genetics for almost a century, but recent results in population genetics suggest that it is not universally applicable, and that models incorporating huge reproductive output, or sweepstakes reproduction, may be more applicable to highly fecund populations across domains of life.

'A model is just a model that may be a useful approximation to the behavior of a population. But it does not describe all the relevant things about a population.'

Even today there are misconceptions about the role of mathematics in biology. Rigorous analysis of the properties of a tractable model incorporating at least the most relevant characteristics of a particular system, and the model's predictions, can be a stronger test of a verbal hypothesis than any open-ended experiment or exploratory data analysis.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to publish theoretical advancements relevant for evolution and/or ecology, as well as critical assessments of current theory through genomic data analysis. Contributions aimed towards a wider audience are particularly welcome.

Dr. Bjarki Eldon
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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23 pages, 6738 KiB  
Review
Viability Selection at Linked Sites
by Bjarki Eldon
Mathematics 2023, 11(3), 569; https://doi.org/10.3390/math11030569 - 21 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1331
Abstract
Evolutionary ecology may be described as explaining ecology through evolution and vice versa, but one may also view it as an integration of the two fields, where one takes the view that ecology and evolution are inseparable, and one can only begin to [...] Read more.
Evolutionary ecology may be described as explaining ecology through evolution and vice versa, but one may also view it as an integration of the two fields, where one takes the view that ecology and evolution are inseparable, and one can only begin to understand the biology of organisms by synthesizing the two fields. An example of such a synthesis is the biology of high fecundity and the associated concept of sweepstakes reproduction, or skewed individual recruitment success. As an illustration, we consider selection at linked sites under various dominance and epistasis mechanisms in a diploid population evolving according to random sweepstakes and experiencing recurrent bottlenecks. Using simulations, we give a few examples of the impact of the stated elements on selection. We show that depending on the dominance mechanisms, random sweepstakes can shorten the time to fixation (conditional on fixation) of the fit type at all sites. Bottlenecks tend to increase the fixation time, with random sweepstakes counteracting the effects of bottlenecks on the fixation time. Understanding the effect of random sweepstakes, recurrent bottlenecks, dominance mechanisms and epistasis on the fate of selectively advantageous mutations may help with explaining genetic diversity in natural highly fecund populations possibly evolving under sweepstakes reproduction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mathematical Models in Evolutionary Ecology)
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