What IS ecological genetics?*

In most biology curricula, ecology, evolution and genetics are taught as separate courses that may appear to have little overlap. However, ecology and genetics together form the mechanisms of evolutionary change: Ecological interactions or organisms with the biotic and abiotic environment are the context of natural selection -- they determine the phenotype that does the best in a given situation. The ecological structure of populations (size, degree of fragmentation, etc.) also determines the potential for genetic drift (non-adaptive genetic change in populations). Genetic variability within populations for phenotypic characters that are ecologically important determines the speed and directionality of the response of populations to the selection resulting from ecological interactions . Thus, to understand the potential for (and constraints on) evolution in contemporary populations, one must consider both ecological and genetic issues. Further context is provided by placing analysis of contemporary populations into a phylogenetic context (either through phylogeographic analyses within species or through broader systematic analysis of sets of taxa). Ecological genetics is thus a point of view in which awareness of variability among organisms is involved in the study of all kinds of ecological interactions, both biotic and abiotic. In this outlook, key ecological parameters (e.g. population growth rate, competitive ability, attack rates of predators, ecologically important behaviors) are not considered fixed properties of populations or species, but are acknowledged to evolve in an ongoing feedback between ecology and genetics.

*I cribbed this excellent description of ecological genetics from Dr. Sara Via.

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