Faillace and Morin publish in Nature Ecology & Evolution

Cara Faillace working at a microscope in the laboratory of Peter Morin.

Cara Faillace (PhD candidate) and her advisor, Peter Morin, recently published an article titled "Evolution Alters the Consequences of Invasions in Experimental Communities" in Nature Ecology and Evolution (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-016-0013). The novel design of their study allowed Faillace and Morin to directly investigate effects of ongoing evolution in biological invasions. They found species-specific evolutionary responses, which both enhanced and reduced performance of invaders and residents simultaneously, ultimately exacerbating or ameliorating the effects of biological invasions. These idiosyncratic patterns of evolutionary change complicate predictions about the long-term consequences of invasions from initial post-invasion dynamics. Ms. Faillace has contributed an invited companion piece to the Nature Ecology and Evolution Community Behind the Paper Channel (https://natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/) in which she describes her experience in designing and executing this experiment as part of her dissertation research.

December 2016