Abstract

Can heritable traits in a single species affect an entire ecosystem? Recent studies show that such traits in a common tree have predictable effects on community structure and ecosystem processes. Because these 'community and ecosystem phenotypes' have a genetic basis and are heritable, we can begin to apply the principles of population and quantitative genetics to place the study of complex communities and ecosystems within an evolutionary framework. This framework could allow us to understand, for the first time, the genetic basis of ecosystem processes, and the effect of such phenomena as climate change and introduced transgenic organisms on entire communities.

Author affiliations

1. Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA.
2. Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA.
3. Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
4. School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA.
5. Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington 98505, USA.
6. Conservation and Science Department, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois 60614, USA.
7. Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506-6057, USA.
8. School of Plant Science and Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
9. Department of Entomology, 1630 Linden Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
10. Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, 4144 Plant Sciences Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.

Correspondence to: Thomas G. Whitham^1,2 Email: Thomas.Whitham@nau.edu

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