Abstract:
Biological invasions represent an extraordinary opportunity to study evolution. This is because accidental or deliberate species introductions have taken place for centuries across large geographical scales, frequently prompting rapid evolutionary transitions in invasive populations. Until recently, however, the utility of invasions as evolutionary experiments has been hampered by limited information on the makeup of populations that were part of earlier invasion stages. Now, developments in ancient and historical DNA technologies, as well as the quickening pace of digitization for millions of specimens that are housed in herbaria and museums globally, promise to help overcome this obstacle. In this review, we first introduce the types of temporal data that can be used to study invasions, highlighting the timescale captured by each approach and their respective limitations. We then discuss how ancient and historical specimens as well as data available from prior invasion studies can be used to answer questions on mechanisms of (mal)adaptation, rates of evolution, or community-level changes during invasions. By bridging the gap between contemporary and historical invasive populations, temporal data can help us connect pattern to process in invasion science. These data will become increasingly important if invasions are to achieve their full potential as experiments of evolution in nature.
摘要:
生物入侵是研究进化的绝佳机会。这是因为在大的地理范围内,偶然或故意的物种引入已经发生了几个世纪,经常促使入侵人群的快速进化转变。直到最近,然而,入侵作为进化实验的效用受到了关于早期入侵阶段的种群构成的有限信息的阻碍。现在,古代和历史DNA技术的发展,以及全球草药和博物馆中数以百万计的标本数字化步伐的加快,承诺帮助克服这个障碍。在这次审查中,我们首先介绍可用于研究入侵的时态数据的类型,突出每种方法捕获的时间尺度及其各自的局限性。然后,我们讨论如何使用古代和历史标本以及先前入侵研究提供的数据来回答有关(正常)适应机制的问题。进化率,或者入侵期间社区层面的变化。通过弥合当代和历史入侵人群之间的差距,时态数据可以帮助我们将入侵科学中的模式与过程联系起来。如果入侵要充分发挥其作为自然界进化实验的潜力,这些数据将变得越来越重要。