適應(yīng)性輻射的演化過程依賴于很多生態(tài)因素，但相反的過程,、即適應(yīng)性輻射對生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的效應(yīng)是什么呢,？令人吃驚的是，關(guān)于演化分化對生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的效應(yīng)人們幾乎沒有做什么研究工作,。
現(xiàn)在,，Harmon等人在對一對棘魚物種的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)效應(yīng)所做的試驗(yàn)中演示了這一效應(yīng)。這對棘魚最近經(jīng)歷了一次適應(yīng)性輻射,，現(xiàn)在生活在不同的小生境中,，而該生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中還有一個與它們共同祖先相似的泛化物種。實(shí)驗(yàn)中所用的魚來自加拿大不列顛哥倫比亞省Texada島上的湖中,，實(shí)驗(yàn)在池塘水中型生態(tài)箱中進(jìn)行,。
實(shí)驗(yàn)表明，物種分化會改變獵物群落結(jié)構(gòu)和總生態(tài)系統(tǒng)生產(chǎn)力,，還會通過對溶解有機(jī)質(zhì)的間接效應(yīng)改變系統(tǒng)中光透射的光譜性質(zhì),。即使是在較短的時間尺度上（實(shí)驗(yàn)時間為10星期），最近分化的物種也會對一個生態(tài)系統(tǒng)產(chǎn)生很不相同的影響,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Nature 458, 1167-1170 (30 April 2009) | doi:10.1038/nature07974
Evolutionary diversification in stickleback affects ecosystem functioning
Luke J. Harmon1,2,5, Blake Matthews2,3,5, Simone Des Roches1, Jonathan M. Chase4, Jonathan B. Shurin2 & Dolph Schluter2
1 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844-3051, USA
2 Biodiversity Research Centre and Zoology Department, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
3 EAWAG, Aquatic Ecology, Seestrasse 79, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
4 Department of Biology, Washington University, St Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
5 These authors contributed equally to this work.
Explaining the ecological causes of evolutionary diversification is a major focus of biology, but surprisingly little has been said about the effects of evolutionary diversification on ecosystems1, 2, 3. The number of species in an ecosystem and their traits are key predictors of many ecosystem-level processes, such as rates of productivity, biomass sequestration and decomposition4, 5. Here we demonstrate short-term ecosystem-level effects of adaptive radiation in the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) over the past 10,000 years. These fish have undergone recent parallel diversification in several lakes in coastal British Columbia, resulting in the formation of two specialized species (benthic and limnetic) from a generalist ancestor6. Using a mesocosm experiment, we demonstrate that this diversification has strong effects on ecosystems, affecting prey community structure, total primary production, and the nature of dissolved organic materials that regulate the spectral properties of light transmission in the system. However, these ecosystem effects do not simply increase in their relative strength with increasing specialization and species richness; instead, they reflect the complex and indirect consequences of ecosystem engineering by sticklebacks. It is well known that ecological factors influence adaptive radiation7, 8. We demonstrate that adaptive radiation, even over short timescales, can have profound effects on ecosystems.
