Ecotype

In evolutionary ecology, an ecotype,[note 1] sometimes called ecospecies, describes a genetically distinct geographic variety, population or race within species (or among closely related), which is adapted to specific environmental conditions. Typically, ecotypes exhibit phenotypic differences (such as in morphology or physiology) stemming from environmental heterogeneity and are capable of interbreeding with other geographically adjacent ecotypes without loss of fertility or vigor. [1][2][3][4][5]

Contents

Range and distribution

Experiments indicate that sometimes ecotypes manifest only when separated by great spatial distances (of the order of 1000 km). This is due to hybridization whereby different but adjacent varieties of the same species (or generally of the same taxonomic rank) interbreed, thus overcoming local selection. However other studies reveal that the opposite may happen, i.e. ecotypes revealing at very small scales (of the order of 10 m), within populations, and despite hybridization.[1]

In ecotypes, it is common for continuous, gradual geographic variation to impose analogous phenotypic and/or genetic variation.[1] This situation is called cline. A well-known example of cline is the skin color gradation in indigenous human populations worldwide, which is related to latitude and amounts of sunlight.[6] But often the distribution of ecotypes is bimodal or multimodal. This means that ecotypes may display two or more distinct and discontinuous phenotypes even within the same population. Such phenomenon may lead to speciation and can occur if conditions in a local environment change dramatically through space or time.[1]

Examples

Terminology

Ecotypes have no main taxonomic rank in modern biological classification. However some scientists consider them "taxonomically equivalent to subspecies". This is true in the sense that ecotypes can be sometimes classified as subspecies and the opposite.

Ecotypes are closely related to morphs. In the context of evolutionary biology, genetic polymorphism is the occurrence in equilibrium of two or more distinctly different phenotypes within a population of a species, in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph. The frequency of these discontinuous forms (even that of the rarest) is too high to be explained by mutation. In order to be classified as such, morphs must occupy the same habitat at the same time and belong to a panmictic population (whose all members can potentially interbreed). Polymorphism is actively and steadily maintained in populations of species by natural selection (most famously sexual dimorphism in humans) in contrast to transient polymorphisms where conditions in a habitat change in such a way that a "form" is being replaced completely by another.

In fact, Begon, Townsend and Harper assert that

There is not always clear distinction between local ecotypes and genetic polymorphisms.

The notions "form" and "ecotype" may appear to correspond to a static phenomenon, however this is not always the case. Evolution occurs continuously both in time and space, so that two ecotypes or forms may qualify as distinct species in only a few generations. Begon, Townsend and Harper use an illuminating analogy on this:

...the origin of a species, whether allopatric or sympatric, is a process, not an event. For the formation of a new species, like the boiling of an egg, there is some freedom to argue about when it is completed.

Thus ecotypes and morphs can be thought of as precursory steps of potential speciation.

Notes

  1. ^ Greek: οίκος = home and τύπος = type, coined by Göte Turesson in 1922

See also

Evolutionary biology portal
Environment portal
Ecology portal
Earth sciences portal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Ecology: From individuals to ecosystems by Begon, Townsend, Harper, Blackwell Publishing 4th ed. (2006), p.5,6,7,8
  2. ^ Turesson, Turesson G. (1992). The genotypical response of the plant species to the habitat.. Hereditas 3. pp. 211–350. 
  3. ^ Molles, Manuel C., Jr. (2005). Ecology: Concepts and Applications (3rd edition ed.). New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. pp. 201. ISBN 0-07-243969-6. 
  4. ^ Environmental Encyclopedia by Bortman, Brimblecombe, Mary Ann Cunningham, William P. Cunningham, Freedman - 3rd ed., p.435, "Ecotype"
  5. ^ http://botanydictionary.org/ecotype.html
  6. ^ race. (2009). Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.
  7. ^ "reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)" Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009
  8. ^ Reindeer
  9. ^ http://www.springerlink.com/content/w01617k562021220/
  10. ^ Common Bottlenose Dolphin
  11. ^ Encyclopedia of life sciences, 2007, John Wiley & Sons, "Darwin’s Finches"
  12. ^ Introduction to Ecology (1983), J.C. Emberlin, chapter 8