title: Evolving Perspectives on Monopolization and Priority Effects.
abstract: Biologists are often confronted with high levels of unexplained variation when studying the processes that determine genetic and species diversity. Here, we argue that eco-evolutionary interactions might often play an important role during colonization and have longstanding effects on populations and communities. Adaptation following colonization can produce a strong positive feedback loop that promotes priority effects and context-dependent trajectories of population or species assembly. We establish how monopolization, and more generally evolution-mediated priority effects, influence ecological patterns at multiple scales of space, time, and biological organization. We then highlight the underappreciated implications for our understanding of population and landscape genetics, adaptive evolution, community diversity, biogeography, and conservation biology. We indicate multiple future directions for research, including extending theory beyond competition.
authors.affiliation: Universiteit Leuven, Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: Luc.DeMeester@bio.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Meester
authors.affiliation: Universiteit Leuven, Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Institute for Nature and Forest Research, Kliniekstraat 25, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Joost
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vanoverbeke
authors.affiliation: Universiteit Leuven, Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Laurens J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kilsdonk
authors.affiliation: University of Connecticut, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 75 North Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
authors.forename: Mark C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Urban
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003710:Demography; D008954:Models, Biological; D013045:Species Specificity