Data from: Intermediate kinematics produce inferior feeding performance in a classic case of natural hybridization

Selection on naturally-occurring hybrid individuals is a key component of speciation theory, but few studies examine the functional basis of hybrid performance. We examine the functional consequences of hybridization in nature using the freshwater sunfishes (Centrarchidae), where natural hybrids have been studied for over a century and a half. We examined bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), and their naturally-occurring hybrid using prey capture kinematics and morphology to parameterize suction feeding simulations on divergent parental resources. Hybrid individuals exhibited intermediate kinematics between the two parental species. However, performance assays indicated that hybrids display performance most similar to the worse-performing species for a given parental resource. Our results show that intermediate hybrid phenotypes can be impaired by a less than intermediate performance and hence suffer a larger loss in fitness than could be inferred from morphology alone

Intermediate Kinematics Produce Inferior Feeding Performance in a Classic Case of Natural Hybridization

Selection on naturally occurring hybrid individuals is a key component of speciation theory, but few studies examine the functional basis of hybrid performance. We examine the functional consequences of hybridization in nature, using the freshwater sunfishes (Centrarchidae), where natural hybrids have been studied for more than a century and a half. We examined bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), and their naturally occurring hybrid, using prey-capture kinematics and morphology to parameterize suction-feeding simulations on divergent parental resources. Hybrid individuals exhibited kinematics intermediate between those of the two parental species. However, performance assays indicated that hybrids display performance most similar to the worse-performing species for a given parental resource. Our results show that intermediate hybrid phenotypes can be impaired by a less-than-intermediate performance and hence suffer a larger loss in fitness than could be inferred from morphology alone

Suction performance R code

Suction performance R cod

Sucfion performance data

Sucfion performance dat

Kinematic data

Kinematic dat

Kinematic R code

Kinematic R cod

A general pattern of trade-offs between ecosystem resistance and resilience to tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclones drive coastal ecosystem dynamics, and their frequency, intensity, and spatial distribution are predicted to shift with climate change. Patterns of resistance and resilience were synthesized for 4138 ecosystem time series from n = 26 storms occurring between 1985 and 2018 in the Northern Hemisphere to predict how coastal ecosystems will respond to future disturbance regimes. Data were grouped by ecosystems (fresh water, salt water, terrestrial, and wetland) and response categories (biogeochemistry, hydrography, mobile biota, sedentary fauna, and vascular plants). We observed a repeated pattern of trade-offs between resistance and resilience across analyses. These patterns are likely the outcomes of evolutionary adaptation, they conform to disturbance theories, and they indicate that consistent rules may govern ecosystem susceptibility to tropical cyclones