Adaptive diversification in heterogeneous environments

Abstract

The role of environmental heterogeneity in the evolution of biological diversity has been studied only for simple types of heterogeneities and dispersals. This article broadens previous results by considering heterogeneities and dispersals that are structured by several environmental factors. It studies the evolution of a metapopulation, living in a network of patches connected by dispersal, under the effects of mutation, selection and migration. First, it is assumed that patches are equally connected and that they carry habitats characterized by several factors exerting selection pressures on several individual traits. Habitat factors may vary in the environment independently or they may be correlated. It is shown that correlations between habitat factors promote adaptive diversification and that this effect may be modified by trait interactions on survival. Then, it is assumed that patches are structured by two crossed factors, called the row and column factors, such that patches are more connected when they occur in the same row or in the same column. Environmental patterns in which each habitat appears in each row the same number of times and appears in each column the same number of times are found to hinder adaptive diversification.

Keywords: Adaptation; Adaptive dynamics; Migration; Multivariate evolution; Spatial heterogeneity; Structured populations.