PARENT SESSION
Oral Session 141: Ecological Theory V: Dispersal; Nutrient Cycling.
Presiding: T Baisden
Friday, August 6, 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM, Meeting Room D 139.

Evolution of dispersal distributions in heterogeneous landscapes.

Bolker, Benjamin^*,1, ¹ University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

ABSTRACT- Dispersal of offspring to new spatial locations is one of the fundamental ecological processes that determines both the outcome of interspecies competition and the spatial patterns formed in communities of sessile organisms. Classical studies in the evolution of dispersal, motivated by the observation of discrete polymorphisms in dispersal phenotype, have focused on the decision whether to disperse offspring out of the natal patch or not, balancing the risks of dispersal against increased competition in the natal patch. Ecologists have also quantified the distribution of dispersal distance, and on the consequences of different shapes of dispersal distributions (leptokurtic, fat-tailed, etc.); theoreticians have recently begun to study how these shapes could evolve in homogeneous landscapes. In this talk, I will present simulation and analytical results (using spatial moment equations) on the evolution of dispersal distributions in heterogeneous environments: in particular, I will show how the scale and shape of the spatial autocorrelation of environmental suitability affects the evolution of dispersal.

Key words: spatial, heterogeneity, dispersal, evolution