NATURALIST SELECTIONS IS AN INTERVIEW SERIES PRODUCED BY THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NATURALISTS GRADUATE COUNCIL. WE SHOWCASE GRADUATE STUDENT AND POSTDOC AUTHORED WORK IN THE AMERICAN NATURALIST, A PREMIER PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL FOR ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND ANIMAL BEHAVIOR RESEARCH. CATCH UP ON EXCITING NEW PAPERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED FROM THE JOURNAL, AND MEET SOME TRULY BRILLIANT EARLY CAREER NATURALISTS!
*Featured image photo credit: Rebecca Robinson
In this episode, Zach Wood talks with us about his new paper Wood et al. 2022: ‘Drivers and Cascading Ecological Consequences of Gambusia affinis Trait Variation.’ We dive into the weird world of human-created pond ecosystems and how these ponds afford a unique opportunity to study rapid contemporary eco-evolutionary dynamics in predator-prey interactions. We also discuss the challenges of dissecting all the possible causes of trait variation in the wild and explore other ecological and genetic contexts that might affect varying patterns of anti-predator evolution among mosquitofish ponds. Listen to our conversation and then read Zach’s full paper here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/717866.
Craving more context? Email Zach at zachary.t.wood@maine.edu!
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Credits
Featured Guest: Dr. Zach Wood, University of Maine
Host, Editor, Producer: Sarah McPeek, University of Virginia, US
Original Music: Daniel Nondorf, University of Virginia, US
Continue reading “NS – Zach Wood – non-congruence of evolutionary and plastic response to predators in introduced mosquitofish”
ASN Graduate Council 