TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding human-commensalism through an ecological and evolutionary framework
AU - Fawthrop, Ruth
AU - Cerca, José
AU - Pacheco, George
AU - Sætre, Glenn-Peter
AU - Scordato, Elizabeth S.C.
AU - Ravinet, Mark
AU - Rowe, Melissah
N1 - Data archiving: no data, opinion piece.
PY - 2024/11/13
Y1 - 2024/11/13
N2 - 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.
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.
U2 - 10.1016/j.tree.2024.10.006
DO - 10.1016/j.tree.2024.10.006
M3 - Article
SN - 0169-5347
JO - Trends in Ecology and Evolution
JF - Trends in Ecology and Evolution
ER -