title: The evolution of thermal performance can constrain dispersal during range shifting.
abstract: Organisms can cope with changing temperature under climate change by either adapting to the temperature at which they perform best and/or by dispersing to more benign locations. The evolution of a new thermal niche during range shifting is, however, expected to be strongly constrained by genetic load because spatial sorting is known to induce fast evolution of dispersal. To broaden our understanding of this interaction, we studied the joint evolution of dispersal and thermal performance curves (TPCs) of a population during range shifting by applying an individual-based spatially explicit model. Always, TPCs adapted to the local thermal conditions. Remarkably, this adaptation coincided with an evolution of dispersal at the shifting range front being equally high or lower than at the trailing edge. This optimal strategy reduces genetic load and highlights that evolutionary dynamics during range shifting change when crucial traits such as dispersal and thermal performance jointly evolve.
authors.affiliation: a Department Biology , Ghent University , Terrestrial Ecology Unit, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hillaert
authors.affiliation: a Department Biology , Ghent University , Terrestrial Ecology Unit, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boeye
authors.affiliation: b Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation , KU Leuven, Ch. Deberiotstraat 32, B-3000 Leuven , Belgium.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stoks
authors.affiliation: a Department Biology , Ghent University , Terrestrial Ecology Unit, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bonte
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D057231:Climate Change; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017753:Ecosystem; D005838:Genotype; D057232:Global Warming; D008954:Models, Biological; D010944:Plants; D011157:Population Dynamics; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Global warming; dispersal kernels; individual-based model; range dynamics; thermal niche; thermal sensitivity