Publications by category
Journal articles
Bonnet T, Morrissey MB, de Villemereuil P, Alberts SC, Arcese P, Bailey LD, Boutin S, Brekke P, Brent LJN, Camenisch G, et al (2022). Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals.
Science,
376(6596), 1012-1016.
Abstract:
Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals
The rate of adaptive evolution, the contribution of selection to genetic changes that increase mean fitness, is determined by the additive genetic variance in individual relative fitness. To date, there are few robust estimates of this parameter for natural populations, and it is therefore unclear whether adaptive evolution can play a meaningful role in short-term population dynamics. We developed and applied quantitative genetic methods to long-term datasets from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that, while estimates vary between populations, additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. We show that these rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and hence that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change.
Abstract.
Evans SR, Bearhop S (2022). Variation in movement strategies: Capital versus income migration. Journal of Animal Ecology, 91(10), 1961-1974.
de Villemereuil P, Charmantier A, Arlt D, Bize P, Brekke P, Brouwer L, Cockburn A, Côté SD, Dobson FS, Evans SR, et al (2020). Fluctuating optimum and temporally variable selection on breeding date in birds and mammals.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A,
117(50), 31969-31978.
Abstract:
Fluctuating optimum and temporally variable selection on breeding date in birds and mammals.
Temporal variation in natural selection is predicted to strongly impact the evolution and demography of natural populations, with consequences for the rate of adaptation, evolution of plasticity, and extinction risk. Most of the theory underlying these predictions assumes a moving optimum phenotype, with predictions expressed in terms of the temporal variance and autocorrelation of this optimum. However, empirical studies seldom estimate patterns of fluctuations of an optimum phenotype, precluding further progress in connecting theory with observations. To bridge this gap, we assess the evidence for temporal variation in selection on breeding date by modeling a fitness function with a fluctuating optimum, across 39 populations of 21 wild animals, one of the largest compilations of long-term datasets with individual measurements of trait and fitness components. We find compelling evidence for fluctuations in the fitness function, causing temporal variation in the magnitude, but not the direction of selection. However, fluctuations of the optimum phenotype need not directly translate into variation in selection gradients, because their impact can be buffered by partial tracking of the optimum by the mean phenotype. Analyzing individuals that reproduce in consecutive years, we find that plastic changes track movements of the optimum phenotype across years, especially in bird species, reducing temporal variation in directional selection. This suggests that phenological plasticity has evolved to cope with fluctuations in the optimum, despite their currently modest contribution to variation in selection.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Postma E, Sheldon BC (2020). It takes two: Heritable male effects on reproductive timing but not clutch size in a wild bird population. Evolution, 74(10), 2320-2331.
Culina A, van den Berg I, Evans S, Sánchez-Tójar A (2020). Low availability of code in ecology: A call for urgent action.
PLoS Biol,
18(7).
Abstract:
Low availability of code in ecology: A call for urgent action.
Access to analytical code is essential for transparent and reproducible research. We review the state of code availability in ecology using a random sample of 346 nonmolecular articles published between 2015 and 2019 under mandatory or encouraged code-sharing policies. Our results call for urgent action to increase code availability: only 27% of eligible articles were accompanied by code. In contrast, data were available for 79% of eligible articles, highlighting that code availability is an important limiting factor for computational reproducibility in ecology. Although the percentage of ecological journals with mandatory or encouraged code-sharing policies has increased considerably, from 15% in 2015 to 75% in 2020, our results show that code-sharing policies are not adhered to by most authors. We hope these results will encourage journals, institutions, funding agencies, and researchers to address this alarming situation.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Hemmings N, Evans S (2020). Unhatched eggs represent the invisible fraction in two wild bird populations. Biology Letters, 16(1).
Gamelon M, Vriend SJG, Engen S, Adriaensen F, Dhondt AA, Evans SR, Matthysen E, Sheldon BC, Sæther B (2019). Accounting for interspecific competition and age structure in demographic analyses of density dependence improves predictions of fluctuations in population size. Ecology Letters, 22(5), 797-806.
Postma E, Evans S, Waldvogel D, Vasiljevic N (2018). Heritable spouse effects increase evolutionary potential of human reproductive timing.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,
285Abstract:
Heritable spouse effects increase evolutionary potential of human reproductive timing
Sexual reproduction is inherently interactive, especially in animal species such as humans that exhibit extended pair bonding. Yet we have little knowledge of the role of male characteristics and their evolutionary impact on reproductive behavioural phenotypes, to the extent that biologists typically consider component traits (e.g. reproductive timing) as female-specific. Based on extensive genealogical data detailing the life-histories of 6,435 human mothers born across four centuries of modern history, we use an animal modelling approach to estimate the indirect genetic effect of men on the reproductive phenotype of their partners. These analyses show that a woman’s reproductive timing (age at first birth) is influenced by her partner’s genotype. This indirect genetic effect is positively correlated with the direct genetic effect expressed in women, such that total heritable variance in this trait is doubled when heritable partner effects are considered. Our study thus suggests that much of the heritable variation in women’s reproductive timing is mediated via partner effects, and that the evolutionary potential of this trait is far greater than previously appreciated.
Abstract.
Evans SR, Gustafsson L (2017). Climate change upends selection on ornamentation in a wild bird.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,
1(2).
Author URL.
Evans SR (2016). Gauging the Purported Costs of Public Data Archiving for Long-Term Population Studies.
PLoS Biology,
14(4).
Abstract:
Gauging the Purported Costs of Public Data Archiving for Long-Term Population Studies
It was recently proposed that long-term population studies be exempted from the expectation that authors publicly archive the primary data underlying published articles. Such studies are valuable to many areas of ecological and evolutionary biological research, and multiple risks to their viability were anticipated as a result of public data archiving (PDA), ultimately all stemming from independent reuse of archived data. However, empirical assessment was missing, making it difficult to determine whether such fears are realistic. I addressed this by surveying data packages from long-term population studies archived in the Dryad Digital Repository. I found no evidence that PDA results in reuse of data by independent parties, suggesting the purported costs of PDA for long-term population studies have been overstated.
Abstract.
Evans SR, Sheldon BC (2015). Colour in a new light: a spectral perspective on the quantitative genetics of carotenoid colouration.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY,
29(1), 96-103.
Author URL.
Evans S (2015). Sports doping vastly underestimated.
NATURE,
519(7541), 33-33.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Schielzeth H, Forstmeier W, Sheldon BC, Husby A (2014). Nonautosomal Genetic Variation in Carotenoid Coloration.
AMERICAN NATURALIST,
184(3), 374-383.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Sheldon BC (2013). Pigments versus structure: examining the mechanism of age-dependent change in a carotenoid-based colour.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY,
82(2), 418-428.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Sheldon BC (2012). Quantitative Genetics of a Carotenoid-Based Color: Heritability and Persistent Natal Environmental Effects in the Great Tit.
AMERICAN NATURALIST,
179(1), 79-94.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Summers AGR, Sheldon BC (2012). Seasonality of carotenoid-based plumage coloration: modelling wavelength-specific change through spectral reconstruction.
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY,
43(3), 234-243.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Gustafsson L, Sheldon BC (2011). DIVERGENT PATTERNS OF AGE-DEPENDENCE IN ORNAMENTAL AND REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS IN THE COLLARED FLYCATCHER.
EVOLUTION,
65(6), 1623-1636.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Hinks AE, Wilkin TA, Sheldon BC (2010). Age, sex and beauty: methodological dependence of age- and sex-dichromatism in the great tit Parus major.
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY,
101(4), 777-796.
Author URL.
Ager D, Evans S, Li H, Lilley AK, van der Gast CJ (2010). Anthropogenic disturbance affects the structure of bacterial communities.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY,
12(3), 670-678.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Sheldon BC (2008). Interspecific patterns of genetic diversity in birds: Correlations with extinction risk.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY,
22(4), 1016-1025.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Finnie M, Manica A (2007). Shoaling preferences in decapod crustacea.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR,
74, 1691-1696.
Author URL.
Publications by year
2022
Bonnet T, Morrissey MB, de Villemereuil P, Alberts SC, Arcese P, Bailey LD, Boutin S, Brekke P, Brent LJN, Camenisch G, et al (2022). Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals.
Science,
376(6596), 1012-1016.
Abstract:
Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals
The rate of adaptive evolution, the contribution of selection to genetic changes that increase mean fitness, is determined by the additive genetic variance in individual relative fitness. To date, there are few robust estimates of this parameter for natural populations, and it is therefore unclear whether adaptive evolution can play a meaningful role in short-term population dynamics. We developed and applied quantitative genetic methods to long-term datasets from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that, while estimates vary between populations, additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. We show that these rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and hence that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change.
Abstract.
Evans SR, Bearhop S (2022). Variation in movement strategies: Capital versus income migration. Journal of Animal Ecology, 91(10), 1961-1974.
2020
de Villemereuil P, Charmantier A, Arlt D, Bize P, Brekke P, Brouwer L, Cockburn A, Côté SD, Dobson FS, Evans SR, et al (2020). Fluctuating optimum and temporally variable selection on breeding date in birds and mammals.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A,
117(50), 31969-31978.
Abstract:
Fluctuating optimum and temporally variable selection on breeding date in birds and mammals.
Temporal variation in natural selection is predicted to strongly impact the evolution and demography of natural populations, with consequences for the rate of adaptation, evolution of plasticity, and extinction risk. Most of the theory underlying these predictions assumes a moving optimum phenotype, with predictions expressed in terms of the temporal variance and autocorrelation of this optimum. However, empirical studies seldom estimate patterns of fluctuations of an optimum phenotype, precluding further progress in connecting theory with observations. To bridge this gap, we assess the evidence for temporal variation in selection on breeding date by modeling a fitness function with a fluctuating optimum, across 39 populations of 21 wild animals, one of the largest compilations of long-term datasets with individual measurements of trait and fitness components. We find compelling evidence for fluctuations in the fitness function, causing temporal variation in the magnitude, but not the direction of selection. However, fluctuations of the optimum phenotype need not directly translate into variation in selection gradients, because their impact can be buffered by partial tracking of the optimum by the mean phenotype. Analyzing individuals that reproduce in consecutive years, we find that plastic changes track movements of the optimum phenotype across years, especially in bird species, reducing temporal variation in directional selection. This suggests that phenological plasticity has evolved to cope with fluctuations in the optimum, despite their currently modest contribution to variation in selection.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Postma E, Sheldon BC (2020). It takes two: Heritable male effects on reproductive timing but not clutch size in a wild bird population. Evolution, 74(10), 2320-2331.
Culina A, van den Berg I, Evans S, Sánchez-Tójar A (2020). Low availability of code in ecology: A call for urgent action.
PLoS Biol,
18(7).
Abstract:
Low availability of code in ecology: A call for urgent action.
Access to analytical code is essential for transparent and reproducible research. We review the state of code availability in ecology using a random sample of 346 nonmolecular articles published between 2015 and 2019 under mandatory or encouraged code-sharing policies. Our results call for urgent action to increase code availability: only 27% of eligible articles were accompanied by code. In contrast, data were available for 79% of eligible articles, highlighting that code availability is an important limiting factor for computational reproducibility in ecology. Although the percentage of ecological journals with mandatory or encouraged code-sharing policies has increased considerably, from 15% in 2015 to 75% in 2020, our results show that code-sharing policies are not adhered to by most authors. We hope these results will encourage journals, institutions, funding agencies, and researchers to address this alarming situation.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Hemmings N, Evans S (2020). Unhatched eggs represent the invisible fraction in two wild bird populations. Biology Letters, 16(1).
2019
Gamelon M, Vriend SJG, Engen S, Adriaensen F, Dhondt AA, Evans SR, Matthysen E, Sheldon BC, Sæther B (2019). Accounting for interspecific competition and age structure in demographic analyses of density dependence improves predictions of fluctuations in population size. Ecology Letters, 22(5), 797-806.
2018
Postma E, Evans S, Waldvogel D, Vasiljevic N (2018). Heritable spouse effects increase evolutionary potential of human reproductive timing.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,
285Abstract:
Heritable spouse effects increase evolutionary potential of human reproductive timing
Sexual reproduction is inherently interactive, especially in animal species such as humans that exhibit extended pair bonding. Yet we have little knowledge of the role of male characteristics and their evolutionary impact on reproductive behavioural phenotypes, to the extent that biologists typically consider component traits (e.g. reproductive timing) as female-specific. Based on extensive genealogical data detailing the life-histories of 6,435 human mothers born across four centuries of modern history, we use an animal modelling approach to estimate the indirect genetic effect of men on the reproductive phenotype of their partners. These analyses show that a woman’s reproductive timing (age at first birth) is influenced by her partner’s genotype. This indirect genetic effect is positively correlated with the direct genetic effect expressed in women, such that total heritable variance in this trait is doubled when heritable partner effects are considered. Our study thus suggests that much of the heritable variation in women’s reproductive timing is mediated via partner effects, and that the evolutionary potential of this trait is far greater than previously appreciated.
Abstract.
2017
Evans SR, Gustafsson L (2017). Climate change upends selection on ornamentation in a wild bird.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,
1(2).
Author URL.
2016
Evans SR (2016). Gauging the Purported Costs of Public Data Archiving for Long-Term Population Studies.
PLoS Biology,
14(4).
Abstract:
Gauging the Purported Costs of Public Data Archiving for Long-Term Population Studies
It was recently proposed that long-term population studies be exempted from the expectation that authors publicly archive the primary data underlying published articles. Such studies are valuable to many areas of ecological and evolutionary biological research, and multiple risks to their viability were anticipated as a result of public data archiving (PDA), ultimately all stemming from independent reuse of archived data. However, empirical assessment was missing, making it difficult to determine whether such fears are realistic. I addressed this by surveying data packages from long-term population studies archived in the Dryad Digital Repository. I found no evidence that PDA results in reuse of data by independent parties, suggesting the purported costs of PDA for long-term population studies have been overstated.
Abstract.
2015
Evans SR, Sheldon BC (2015). Colour in a new light: a spectral perspective on the quantitative genetics of carotenoid colouration.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY,
29(1), 96-103.
Author URL.
Evans S (2015). Sports doping vastly underestimated.
NATURE,
519(7541), 33-33.
Author URL.
2014
Evans SR, Schielzeth H, Forstmeier W, Sheldon BC, Husby A (2014). Nonautosomal Genetic Variation in Carotenoid Coloration.
AMERICAN NATURALIST,
184(3), 374-383.
Author URL.
2013
Evans SR, Sheldon BC (2013). Pigments versus structure: examining the mechanism of age-dependent change in a carotenoid-based colour.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY,
82(2), 418-428.
Author URL.
2012
Evans SR, Sheldon BC (2012). Quantitative Genetics of a Carotenoid-Based Color: Heritability and Persistent Natal Environmental Effects in the Great Tit.
AMERICAN NATURALIST,
179(1), 79-94.
Author URL.
Evans SR, Summers AGR, Sheldon BC (2012). Seasonality of carotenoid-based plumage coloration: modelling wavelength-specific change through spectral reconstruction.
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY,
43(3), 234-243.
Author URL.
2011
Evans SR, Gustafsson L, Sheldon BC (2011). DIVERGENT PATTERNS OF AGE-DEPENDENCE IN ORNAMENTAL AND REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS IN THE COLLARED FLYCATCHER.
EVOLUTION,
65(6), 1623-1636.
Author URL.
2010
Evans SR, Hinks AE, Wilkin TA, Sheldon BC (2010). Age, sex and beauty: methodological dependence of age- and sex-dichromatism in the great tit Parus major.
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY,
101(4), 777-796.
Author URL.
Ager D, Evans S, Li H, Lilley AK, van der Gast CJ (2010). Anthropogenic disturbance affects the structure of bacterial communities.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY,
12(3), 670-678.
Author URL.
2008
Evans SR, Sheldon BC (2008). Interspecific patterns of genetic diversity in birds: Correlations with extinction risk.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY,
22(4), 1016-1025.
Author URL.
2007
Evans SR, Finnie M, Manica A (2007). Shoaling preferences in decapod crustacea.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR,
74, 1691-1696.
Author URL.