Data from: Predator macroevolution drives trophic cascades and ecosystem functioning

Biologists now recognize that ecology can drive evolution, and that
evolution in turn produces ecological patterns. I extend this thinking to
include longer time-scales, suggesting that macroevolutionary transitions
can create phenotypic differences among species, which then have
predictable impacts on species interactions, community assembly, and
ecosystem functioning. Repeated speciation can exacerbate these patterns
by creating communities with similar phenotypes and hence ecological
impacts. Here, I use several experiments to test these ideas in dragonfly
larvae that occupy ponds with fish, ponds without fish, or both. I show
that macroevolutionary transitions between habitats cause fishless pond
species to be more active relative to fish pond specialists, reducing prey
abundance, shifting prey community composition, and creating stronger
trophic cascades. These effects scale-up to the community level with
predictable consequences for ecosystem multi-functioning. I suggest that
macroevolutionary history can have predictable impacts on phenotypic
traits, with consequences for interacting species and ecosystems.