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Species Concepts and Intraspecific Variation

Species concepts and intraspecific variation can be understood through several concepts. The biological species concept defines species by interbreeding, while the ecological concept defines them by shared ecological niches. Isolating barriers like habitat differences evolve to prevent interbreeding between species. Geographic variation within species arises through local adaptation and genetic drift. Population and typological thinking describe biological diversity. Character displacement occurs when sympatric species differ more than allopatric ones due to competition. The phenetic concept has defects but selection and genetic incompatibility both explain hybrid unfitness. Taxonomic categories above species may be less real than below.

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Jhon Paul Sullera
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176 views46 pages

Species Concepts and Intraspecific Variation

Species concepts and intraspecific variation can be understood through several concepts. The biological species concept defines species by interbreeding, while the ecological concept defines them by shared ecological niches. Isolating barriers like habitat differences evolve to prevent interbreeding between species. Geographic variation within species arises through local adaptation and genetic drift. Population and typological thinking describe biological diversity. Character displacement occurs when sympatric species differ more than allopatric ones due to competition. The phenetic concept has defects but selection and genetic incompatibility both explain hybrid unfitness. Taxonomic categories above species may be less real than below.

Uploaded by

Jhon Paul Sullera
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Species Concepts

and
Intraspecific
Variation
OUTLINE
13.1 In practice species are recognized and defined by phenetic characters
13.2 Several closely related species concepts exist
13.3 Isolating barriers
13.4 Geographic variation within a species can be understood in terms of population genetic and
ecological processes
13.5 “Population thinking” and “typological thinking” are two ways of thinking about biological
diversity
13.6 Ecological influences on the form of a species are shown by the phenomenon of character
displacement
13.7 Some controversial issues exist between the phenetic, biological, and ecological species concepts
13.8 Taxonomic concepts may be nominalist or realist
CONCLUSION
13.1 In practice species are recognized and
defined by phenetic characters

Species

- a fundamental natural unit.

- are formally defined and


practically recognized by phenetic
characters.
Figure 1.
(a) Adult Haliaeetus
leucocephalus and (b)
Adult Aquila chrysaetos
Figure 2.
Species recognition
is difficult because variation
exists within each species
and new species evolve
by the splitting of ancestral species.
13.2 Several closely related species
concepts exist
Figure 3. Horizontal and vertical
species concepts.
13.2.1 The biological species concept
- Species may be defined by interbreeding

- Interbreeding explains why the


members of a species resemble one
another
The recognition species concept of
Paterson (1993) defines
species in terms of mate recognition
13.2.2 The ecological species concept
- Species may be defined
ecologically by a shared ecological
niche

- The ecological force of competitive


exclusion maintains species
differences
13.2.3 The phenetic species concept

- Species may be defined by shared


phenetic attributes

- The classic version of phenetic species


concept was the typological, a later version was
the numerical, and there are other, modern,
phenetic species concepts
13.3 Isolating barriers
13.3.1 Isolating barriers prevent
interbreeding between species

- Isolating barriers evolve between


species
Table 1.
13.3.2 Sperm or pollen competition
can produce subtle prezygotic
isolation
- Gametic isolation is a kind of isolating
barrier that has been shown by the experiments
of Wade et al. (1993).
13.3.3 Closely related African cichlid
fish species are prezygotically isolated
by their color patterns, but are not
postzygotically isolated
Figure 4.
Mating preferences
in two cichlid species
from Lake Victoria,
Africa.
13.4 Geographic variation within a
species can be
understood in terms of population
genetic and
ecological processes
13.4.1 Geographic variation exists in all species
and can be caused by adaptation to local
conditions
Figure 5.
Size of male
house sparrows
in North
America.
13.4.2 Geographic variation may also
be caused by genetic drift

- Geographic variation in mice


chromosomes looks like an example of
genetic drift though other factors may
contribute
13.4.3 Geographic variation may take
the form of a cline

- A cline is a continuous gradient of


variation, within a species
Figure 6. A cline can arise in various
forms.
13.5 “Population thinking” and
“typological thinking” are
two ways of thinking about biological
diversity
- Typological thinking is often
appropriate outside biology and
inappropriate in biological
classification.

- Both selection and drift cause


biological populations to show variation
13.6 Ecological influences on the form
of a species are
shown by the phenomenon of character
displacement
- Character displacement means that
sympatric populations of two species differ
more than do allopatric populations of the
same two species.

- Two species may differ more in


places where they coexist than elsewhere
Figure 7. Character displacement in
North American salamanders.
13.7 Some controversial issues exist
between the phenetic,
biological, and ecological species
concepts
13.7.1 The phenetic species concept
suffers from serious theoretical defects

- The phenetic species concept is


ambiguous in theory

- Sibling species are phenetically


almost identical
- Polytypic species have diverse
phenetic forms within one species
13.7.2 Ecological adaptation and gene
flow can provide complementary, or in
some cases competing, theories of the
integrity of species
- Selection can produce divergence
despite gene flow

- Selection can produce uniformity in


the absence of gene flow
Figure 8.1.
Maps (a) & (b)
Figure 8.2. Map (c)
13.7.3 Both selection and genetic
incompatibility provide explanations
of reduced hybrid fitness

- Ecological factors can influence the


fitness of hybrids
Table 2.
- Low hybrid fitness may also be due
to genetic incompatibilities

- Ecological and reproductive factors


are likely both at work
13.8 Taxonomic concepts may be
nominalist or realist
13.8.1 The species category

- Biological species are real, not


nominal units

- Folk taxonomy often matches


formal taxonomy
13.8.2 Categories below the species
level
Figure 9. Different species form relatively discrete genetic (and
usually phenetic) units; different subspecific units such as races
do not.
13.8.3 Categories above the species
level

- Biologists disagree about how real


the higher taxonomic units are
Conclusion
- Different species concepts follow from
different ideas about the importance of
interbreeding (or gene flow) and natural
selection.

- key explanatory processes are interbreeding


and the pattern of ecological resources, and not
phenetic distinction alone.
FIN

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