Understanding human-commensalism through an ecological and evolutionary framework

Ruth Fawthrop; José Cerca; George Pacheco; Glenn-Peter Sætre; Elizabeth S.C. Scordato; Mark Ravinet; Melissah Rowe

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2024.10.006

Understanding human-commensalism through an ecological and evolutionary framework

Ruth Fawthrop^* (Corresponding author), José Cerca, George Pacheco, Glenn-Peter Sætre, Elizabeth S.C. Scordato, Mark Ravinet, Melissah Rowe

^*Corresponding author for this work

NIOO - Animal Ecology (AnE)

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Human-commensalism has been intuitively characterised as an interspecific interaction whereby non-human individuals benefit from tight associations with anthropogenic environments. However, a clear definition of human-commensalism, rooted within an ecological and evolutionary framework, has yet to be proposed. Here, we define human-commensalism as a population-level dependence on anthropogenic resources, associated with genetic differentiation from the ancestral, non-commensal form. Such a definition helps us to understand the origins of human-commensalism and the pace and form of adaptation to anthropogenic niches, and may enable the prediction of future evolution in an increasingly human-modified world. Our discussion encourages greater consideration of the spatial and temporal complexity in anthropogenic niches, promoting a nuanced consideration of human-commensal populations when formulating research questions.

Original language	English
Journal	Trends in Ecology and Evolution
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2024.10.006
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 13 Nov 2024

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10.1016/j.tree.2024.10.006Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Understanding human-commensalism through an ecological and evolutionary framework",

abstract = "Human-commensalism has been intuitively characterised as an interspecific interaction whereby non-human individuals benefit from tight associations with anthropogenic environments. However, a clear definition of human-commensalism, rooted within an ecological and evolutionary framework, has yet to be proposed. Here, we define human-commensalism as a population-level dependence on anthropogenic resources, associated with genetic differentiation from the ancestral, non-commensal form. Such a definition helps us to understand the origins of human-commensalism and the pace and form of adaptation to anthropogenic niches, and may enable the prediction of future evolution in an increasingly human-modified world. Our discussion encourages greater consideration of the spatial and temporal complexity in anthropogenic niches, promoting a nuanced consideration of human-commensal populations when formulating research questions.",

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AU - Fawthrop, Ruth

AU - Cerca, José

AU - Pacheco, George

AU - Sætre, Glenn-Peter

AU - Scordato, Elizabeth S.C.

AU - Ravinet, Mark

AU - Rowe, Melissah

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PY - 2024/11/13

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AB - Human-commensalism has been intuitively characterised as an interspecific interaction whereby non-human individuals benefit from tight associations with anthropogenic environments. However, a clear definition of human-commensalism, rooted within an ecological and evolutionary framework, has yet to be proposed. Here, we define human-commensalism as a population-level dependence on anthropogenic resources, associated with genetic differentiation from the ancestral, non-commensal form. Such a definition helps us to understand the origins of human-commensalism and the pace and form of adaptation to anthropogenic niches, and may enable the prediction of future evolution in an increasingly human-modified world. Our discussion encourages greater consideration of the spatial and temporal complexity in anthropogenic niches, promoting a nuanced consideration of human-commensal populations when formulating research questions.

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