UCUIRPEE is in the process of being superseded by NERE, the Network for Experimental Research on Evolution, a University of California Multicampus Research Project. This UCIRPEE page will remain alive until that web transition has been completed.
University of California
Intercampus Research Program
on Experimental Evolution
Welcome to the home page of the recently formed (January 2004) UCIRPEE.
By "experimental
evolution" we mean research in which populations are studied across
multiple generations under defined and reproducible conditions, whether
in the laboratory or in nature (for two recent short overviews,
click here
and here). This intentionally general definition
subsumes various types of experiments that involve evolutionary
(cross-generational,
genetically based) changes. At one end of the continuum, the study of
evolutionary responses to naturally occurring events (e.g., droughts,
fires, invasions,
epidemics) may constitute a kind of adventitious experimental evolution,
especially if these events occur repeatedly and predictably enough that
the study can be replicated, either simultaneously or in subsequent years.
Next we have intentional "field introductions," in which a
population is placed in a new habitat in the wild, or a population's
habitat is altered
by adding a predator, a pesticide, a food source, fertilizer, etc. The
experimental population is then monitored across generations and compared
with an unmanipulated control population.
"Laboratory natural selection" denotes
experiments in which the environment of a laboratory-maintained population
is altered (e.g., change of temperature, culture medium, food) as compared
with an unaltered control population. "Laboratory culling" involves
exposing an experimental population to a stress that is lethal (or sublethal)
and then allowing the survivors (or hardiest) to become the parents of
the next generation. In all of the foregoing types of experiments, the
investigator does not specifically measure and select individuals based
on a particular phenotypic trait or combination of traits. Rather, selection
is imposed in a general way, and the population has relatively great
freedom to respond across multiple levels of biological organization
(e.g., via
behavior, morphology, physiology). "Multiple solutions" are
possible and even probable, depending on the kind of organism and experimental
design.
In
classical "artificial
selection" or "selective
breeding" experiments, individuals within a population are scored
for one or more specific traits, then breeders are chosen based on
their score (e.g., highest or lowest). Depending on the level of biological
organization at which selection is imposed -- and the precision with
which the phenotype is defined in practice -- multiple solutions may again
be common.
Domestication is an
interesting (and ancient) type of experimental evolution that
generally
involves
some
amount
of intentional
selective breeding. In some cases, the process has been replicated
enough times
that general principles might be discerned (e.g.,
several species of rodents have been domesticated).
Of course, whenever organisms are brought from the wild to the
laboratory or agricultural setting some amount of adaptation to the
new
conditions will occur, and this may be studied. Once domesticated,
organisms may be the subject of additional selective breeding programs,
with varying degrees of control and replication, leading to multiple
breeds
or lines.
More recently, the unintentional
effects of various actions by human beings have been studied from the perspective
that they constitute selective factors
whose consequences may be predictable. Examples include changes in commercial
fisheries
and in various ungulates that are hunted.
In
any case, to qualify as experimental evolution, we require most if
not all of the following fundamental
design
elements: maintenance
of control populations, simultaneous replication, real-time
observation over multiple
generations,
and the
prospect of detailed genetic analysis. In short, experimental evolution
is evolutionary
biology in its most empirical guise.
Notification of Approval by UCOP, from Director Michael R. Rose - Jan. 30, 2004
Member Institutions and Host Units:
Irvine
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Francisco J. Ayala
Example Pub. PDF
Albert F. Bennett
Example Pub. PDF
Timothy J. Bradley
Example Pub. PDF
Adriana D. Briscoe
Robin Bush
Michael T. Clegg
Walter M. Fitch
Steven A. Frank
Anthony D. Long
Laurence D. Mueller
Example Pub. PDF
Michael R. Rose, Director
Pubs. on Experimental Evolution
Ann K. Sakai
Arthur E. Weis
Los Angeles
Life Sciences Core Curriculum
John
P. (Jay) Phelan, Associate Director Example
Pub. PDF
Riverside
Department of Biology
Mark Chappell
Daphne
J. Fairbairn Example Pub.
PDF Pubs.
on Experimental Evolution
Theodore
Garland, Jr., Assoc. Director & Webmaster Example
Pub. PDF Pubs.
on Experimental Evolution Jan.
2004 SICB Symposium
Kimberly Hammond
Cheryl Hayashi
David
Reznick, Associate Director Example
Pub. PDF
Derek
A. Roff Example Pub. PDF
Leonard
Nunney Example Pub. PDF
Marlene Zuk
Department of Entomology
Robert F. Luck
Richard Stouthamer
Department of Botany & Plant Sciences
Norman
C. Ellstrand
San Diego
Section of Ecology,
Behavior & Evolution
Ronald
Burton
Lin
Chao, Associate Director Example
Pub. PDF
Hopi
Hoekstra Example Pub. PDF
John Huelsenbeck
Terence Hwa
Russell Lande
Bernhard Ø. Palsson
Christopher J. Wills
Santa Barbara
Department
of Ecology, Evolution,
& Marine Biology
John
A.
Endler Example Pub. PDF
Susan Mazer
Todd
Oakley, Associate Director Example
Pub. PDF
William
Rice Example Pub.
PDF
Robert Warner
Organizational Chart for UC Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives
Some Experimental Evolution Links
Last Updated 20 September 2006 by Theodore Garland, Jr., Associate Director and Webmaster