Genomic and phenomic analysis of island ant community assembly

Island biodiversity has long fascinated biologists as it typically presents tractable systems for unpicking the eco-evolutionary processes driving community assembly. In general, two recurring themes are of central theoretical interest. First, immigration, diversification, and extinction typically depend on island geographical properties (e.g. area, isolation, and age). Second, predictable ecological and evolutionary trajectories readily occur after colonization, such as the evolution of adaptive trait syndromes, trends toward specialization, adaptive radiation, and eventual ecological decline. Hypotheses such as the taxon cycle draw on several of these themes to posit particular constraints on colonization and subsequent eco-evolutionary dynamics. However, it has been challenging to examine these integrated dynamics with traditional methods. Here we combine phylogenomics, population genomics and phenomics, to unravel community assembly dynamics among Pheidole (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) ...

岛屿生物多样性长期以来一直吸引着生物学家，因其通常为解析驱动群落组装的生态进化过程提供了易处理的系统。总体而言，两个反复出现的主题是理论研究的核心。首先，迁入、分化和灭绝通常依赖于岛屿的地理特征（如面积、隔离度和年龄）。其次，定殖后易出现可预测的生态和进化轨迹，例如适应性性状综合征的演化、向特化的趋势、适应性辐射以及最终的生态衰退。分类群循环等假说借鉴了这些主题中的若干点，对定殖及后续生态进化动态提出特定限制。然而，使用传统方法研究这些整合动态一直具有挑战性。在此，我们结合系统基因组学、种群基因组学和表型组学，以揭示大头蚁属（膜翅目，蚁科）的群落组装动态……