Cristian Correa

Populations must continuously respond to environmental change or risk extinction. These responses can be measured as phenotypic rates of change, which allow researchers to predict their contemporary evolutionary responses. In 1999, a database of phenotypic rates of change in wild populations was compiled. Since then, researchers have used (and expanded) this database to examine the phenotypic responses as a function of the features of the study system (i.e., the population or set of populations, of a given species, that experienced a specific driver or disturbance), the measured traits, and methodological approaches. Therefore, PROCEED (Phenotypic Rates of Change Evolutionary and Ecological Database) is an ongoing compilation of rates of phenotypic change, typically calculated as Haldanes and Darwins, published in peer‐reviewed literature (but also including data from theses and technical reports). Studies in this database measure the intraspecific change in quantitative (continuous or discrete) traits and report either the time elapsed from the onset of environmental novelty, or reference a historical or biological event reported in other sources (e.g., a mine opening or a well‐documented biological invasion). Included studies either follow a single population through time (allochronic design) or compare two or more populations that diverged at a known time (synchronic design). Some included studies account for the total phenotypic variability in the field (i.e., phenotypic studies), while others employed common‐garden or other quantitative genetic approaches to account for the heritable component of the phenotypic change (i.e., genetic studies). PROCEED includes systems in both natural and experimental conditions, provided that reproduction was not manipulated (i.e., artificial selection experiments were excluded). In the included experimental systems, the environment of the focal populations was manipulated (e.g., an herbivory exclusion experiment, where the type and load of herbivory are manipulated) but the studies did not deliberately select for trait values in the study population (e.g., the plant height). PROCEED does not include systems where the phenotypic change is presumably due to interspecific hybridization, polyploidy, or other chromosomal alterations. Here, we present the most recently updated PROCEED (Version 6.1). This new, curated version has 9263 records ( n ) collated from 326 studies, 1801 systems, and 428 species. The database includes records belonging to mammals ( n = 686), birds ( n = 1475), reptiles ( n = 96), amphibians ( n = 23), fishes ( n = 3671), invertebrates ( n = 1141, mostly arthropods), and plants ( n = 2171). The maximum elapsed time between the environmental change and the sampling is 500 years but is typically less than 100 years (third quartile 89.5; median 45 years). The database also includes a set of variables describing biological and methodological aspects of the study system and measured traits, along with features of the sampling design in the primary source of information. This new version of PROCEED also includes a time series dataset comprising a subset of records included in the general dataset. These are allochronic studies with three or more sampling times throughout the entire study period. The time series dataset contains 655 time series ( s )—belonging to 61 studies, from 156 systems, and 77 species—including mammals ( s = 140), birds ( s = 77), reptiles ( s = 4), amphibians ( s = 8), fishes ( s = 404), and plants ( s = 22). The data are released under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license.

In their native range, Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) have strong interactions with a multitude of species due to the annual pulse of marine‐derived nutrients that they deliver to streams and forests when they spawn and die. Over the past few decades, Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) has established non‐native populations throughout the Patagonia region of southern South America. Here, we provide the first assessment of the pathways through which salmon‐derived nutrients enter stream and forest food webs in Patagonia by surveying multiple streams in southern Chile to identify invertebrate and vertebrate consumers of salmon carcasses and summarizing all documented trophic interactions of Chinook salmon in Patagonia. Blowflies (Calliphoridae) were the dominant colonizer of carcasses in the riparian zone, and midge flies (Chironomidae) were the most common invertebrate on submerged carcasses. Camera trap monitoring in the riparian zone revealed consumption of carcasses or carcass‐associated invertebrates by the insectivorous passerine bird “chucao” (Scelorchilis rubecula), small rodents (black rat Rattus rattus, house mouse Mus musculus, and/or colilargo Oligoryzomys longicaudatus), the South American fox “culpeo” (Lycalopex culpaeus), and the invasive American mink (Neovison vison). A mink was filmed transferring a carcass from stream to streambank, indicating that vertebrate scavenging likely increases the degree to which marine‐derived nutrients enter terrestrial food webs. The native taxa that consume salmon are closely related to species that benefit from salmon consumption in North America, suggesting that the pathways of salmon nutrient incorporation in North American food webs have functionally re‐emerged in South America. Similarly, non‐native trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss and Salmo trutta) and mink consume salmon in Patagonia, and their eco‐evolutionary history of coexistence with salmon could mean that they are preadapted for salmon consumption and could thus be key beneficiaries of this invasion. Expanded monitoring of the abundance and impacts of salmon will be vital for understanding how these novel inputs of marine‐derived nutrients alter Patagonian food webs.

Wild populations must continuously respond to environmental changes or they risk extinction. Those responses can be measured as phenotypic rates of change, which can allow us to predict contemporary adaptive responses, some of which are evolutionary. About two decades ago, a database of phenotypic rates of change in wild populations was compiled. Since then, researchers have used (and expanded) this database to examine phenotypic responses to specific types of human disturbance. Here, we update the database by adding 5675 new estimates of phenotypic change. Using this newer version of the data base, now containing 7338 estimates of phenotypic change, we revisit the conclusions of four published articles. We then synthesize the expanded database to compare rates of change across different types of human disturbance. Analyses of this expanded database suggest that: (i) a small absolute difference in rates of change exists between human disturbed and natural populations, (ii) harvesting by humans results in higher rates of change than other types of disturbance, (iii) introduced populations have increased rates of change, and (iv) body size does not increase through time. Thus, findings from earlier analyses have largely held‐up in analyses of our new database that encompass a much larger breadth of species, traits, and human disturbances. Lastly, we use new analyses to explore how various types of human disturbances affect rates of phenotypic change, and we call for this database to serve as a steppingstone for further analyses to understand patterns of contemporary phenotypic change.

Wild populations must continuously adapt to environmental changes or they risk extinction. Such adaptations can be measured as phenotypic rates of change and can allow us to predict patterns of contemporary evolutionary change. About two decades ago, a dataset of phenotypic rates of change in wild populations was compiled. Since then, researchers have used (and expanded) this dataset to look at microevolutionary processes in relation to specific types of human disturbances. Here, we have updated the dataset adding 5675 estimates of phenotypic changes and used it to revisit established patterns of contemporary evolutionary change. Using this newer version, containing 7338 estimates of phenotypic changes, we revisit the conclusions of four published articles. We then synthesize the expanded dataset to compare rates of change across different types of human disturbance. Analyses of this expanded dataset suggests that: I. a small absolute difference in rates of change exists between human disturbed and natural populations, II. harvesting by humans results in larger rates of change than other types of disturbances, III. introduced populations have increased rates of change, and IV. body size does not increase through time. Overall, findings from earlier analyses have largely held-up in analyses of our new dataset that encompass a much larger breadth of species, traits, and human disturbances. Lastly, we found that types of human disturbances affect rates of phenotypic change, and we call for this database to serve as a steppingstone for further analyses to understand patterns of contemporary evolution.

The impacts of non‐native species are hypothesised to be proportional to the functional distinctiveness of invaders in their invaded ecosystems. Throughout the Patagonia region of southern South America, Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have recently established non‐native populations, and their anadromous, semelparous life cycle could be functionally unique such that marine‐derived nutrients are delivered to streams which have historically lacked such a resource linkage with the ocean. We tested the hypothesis that salmon subsidise biofilm‐associated algae in streams throughout the Aysén province of southern Chile. Using spatial and temporal variation in the presence of salmon among multiple streams and across two spawning seasons, we found strong evidence of salmon‐subsidised algae in three out of four streams examined that have spawning salmon populations. The biofilm of subsidised streams had enriched stable isotopic ratios of nitrogen and carbon, indicating that marine‐derived nutrients were incorporated by biofilms. This nutrient uptake translated into increased algal biomass and percent of total biofilm biomass composed of algae, indicating that the incorporation of marine‐derived nutrients stimulated autotrophic production of biomass. In one stream, the incorporation of marine‐derived nutrients by biofilm occurred in only one of the two studied spawning seasons. Incorporation occurred in a year with low flows of water throughout salmon spawning (4.59 m³/s) and did not occur in a year with much higher flows (41.6 m³/s), suggesting that inter‐annual variation in discharge can mediate the subsidising effect of salmon. These results indicate that Chinook salmon have bridged the historical gap between productive marine ecosystems and nutrient‐poor stream ecosystems in Patagonia. Anadromous salmon can be a significant source of nutrients in nutrient‐limited catchments, and their ongoing expansion in southern South America is likely to entail ecological impacts in stream and riparian food webs.

Cities are uniquely complex systems regulated by interactions and feedbacks between nature and human society. Characteristics of human society—including culture, economics, technology and politics—underlie social patterns and activity, creating a heterogeneous environment that can influence and be influenced by both ecological and evolutionary processes. Increasing research on urban ecology and evolutionary biology has coincided with growing interest in eco‐evolutionary dynamics, which encompasses the interactions and reciprocal feedbacks between evolution and ecology. Research on both urban evolutionary biology and eco‐evolutionary dynamics frequently focuses on contemporary evolution of species that have potentially substantial ecological—and even social—significance. Still, little work fully integrates urban evolutionary biology and eco‐evolutionary dynamics, and rarely do researchers in either of these fields fully consider the role of human social patterns and processes. Because cities are fundamentally regulated by human activities, are inherently interconnected and are frequently undergoing social and economic transformation, they represent an opportunity for ecologists and evolutionary biologists to study urban “socio‐eco‐evolutionary dynamics.” Through this new framework, we encourage researchers of urban ecology and evolution to fully integrate human social drivers and feedbacks to increase understanding and conservation of ecosystems, their functions and their contributions to people within and outside cities.

Chinook salmon native to North America are spreading through South America’s Patagonia and have become the most widespread anadromous salmon invasion ever documented. To better understand the colonization history and role that genetic diversity might have played in the founding and radiation of these new populations, we characterized ancestry and genetic diversity across latitude (39–48°S). Samples from four distant basins in Chile were genotyped for 13 microsatellite loci, and allocated, through probabilistic mixture models, to 148 potential donor populations in North America representing 46 distinct genetic lineages. Patagonian Chinook salmon clearly had a diverse and heterogeneous ancestry. Lineages from the Lower Columbia River were introduced for salmon open-ocean ranching in the late 1970s and 1980s, and were prevalent south of 43°S. In the north, however, a diverse assembly of lineages was found, associated with net-pen aquaculture during the 1990s. Finally, we showed that possible lineage admixture in the introduced range can confound allocations inferred from mixture models, a caveat previously overlooked in studies of this kind. While we documented high genetic and lineage diversity in expanding Patagonian populations, the degree to which diversity drives adaptive potential remains unclear. Our new understanding of diversity across latitude will guide future research.