Rapid evolution of fire melanism in replicated populations of pygmy grasshoppers.

Evolutionary theory predicts an interactive process whereby spatiotemporal environmental heterogeneity will maintain genetic variation, while genetic and phenotypic diversity will buffer populations against stress and allow for fast adaptive evolution in rapidly changing environments. Here, we study color polymorphism patterns in pygmy grasshoppers (Tetrix subulata) and show that the frequency of the melanistic (black) color variant was higher in areas that had been ravaged by fires the previous year than in nonburned habitats, that, in burned areas, the frequency of melanistic grasshoppers dropped from ca. 50% one year after a fire to 30% after four years, and that the variation in frequencies of melanistic individuals among and within populations was genetically based on and represented evolutionary modifications. Dark coloration may confer a selective benefit mediated by enhanced camouflage in recently fire-ravaged areas characterized by blackened visual backgrounds before vegetation has recovered. These findings provide rare evidence for unusually large, extremely rapid adaptive contemporary evolution in replicated natural populations in response to divergent and fluctuating selection associated with spatiotemporal environmental changes.

Forsman A ，Karlsson M ，Wennersten L ，Johansson J ，Karpestam E ... -  《-》

Reduced predation risk for melanistic pygmy grasshoppers in post-fire environments.

Karpestam E ，Merilaita S ，Forsman A 《Ecology and Evolution》

Dynamics of colour polymorphism in a changing environment: fire melanism and then what?

Karlsson M ，Caesar S ，Ahnesjö J ，Forsman A ... -  《OECOLOGIA》

Detection experiments with humans implicate visual predation as a driver of colour polymorphism dynamics in pygmy grasshoppers.

Karpestam E ，Merilaita S ，Forsman A 《BMC ECOLOGY》

On the role of sex differences for evolution in heterogeneous and changing fitness landscapes: insights from pygmy grasshoppers.

Much research has been devoted to study evolution of local adaptations by natural selection, and to explore the roles of neutral processes and developmental plasticity for patterns of diversity among individuals, populations and species. Some aspects, such as evolution of adaptive variation in phenotypic traits in stable environments, and the role of plasticity in predictable changing environments, are well understood. Other aspects, such as the role of sex differences for evolution in spatially heterogeneous and temporally changing environments and dynamic fitness landscapes, remain elusive. An increased understanding of evolution requires that sex differences in development, physiology, morphology, life-history and behaviours are more broadly considered. Studies of selection should take into consideration that the relationships linking phenotypes to fitness may vary not only according to environmental conditions but also differ between males and females. Such opposing selection, sex-by-environment interaction effects of selection and sex-specific developmental plasticity can have consequences for population differentiation, local adaptations and for the dynamics of polymorphisms. Integrating sex differences in analytical frameworks and population comparisons can therefore illuminate neglected evolutionary drivers and reconcile unexpected patterns. Here, I illustrate these issues using empirical examples from over 20 years of research on colour polymorphic Tetrix subulata and Tetrix undulata pygmy grasshoppers, and summarize findings from observational field studies, manipulation experiments, common garden breeding experiments and population genetics studies.This article is part of the theme issue 'Linking local adaptation with the evolution of sex differences'.

Forsman A 《-》