Isolation and differentiation of Rivulus hartii across Trinidad and neighboring islands.

Diversification of freshwater fishes on islands is considered unlikely because the traits that enable successful colonization-specifically, broad salinity tolerances and the potential for oceanic dispersal-may also constrain post-colonization genetic differentiation. Some secondary freshwater fish, however, exhibit pronounced genetic differentiation and geographic structure on islands, whereas others do not. It is unclear what conditions give rise to contrasting patterns of differentiation because few comparative reconstructions of population history have been carried out for insular freshwater fishes. In this study, we examined the phylogeography of Hart's killifish (Rivulus hartii) across Trinidad, with reference to neighboring islands and northern South America, to test hypotheses of colonization and differentiation derived from comparable work on co-occurring guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Geographic patterns of mitochondrial DNA haplotype variation and microsatellite genotype variation provide evidence of genetic differentiation of R. hartii among islands and across Trinidad. Our findings are largely consistent with patterns of geographically structured ancestry and admixture found in Trinidadian guppies, which suggests that both species share a history of colonization and differentiation and that post-colonization diversification may be more common among members of insular freshwater fish assemblages than has been previously thought.

Experimental evaluation of evolution and coevolution as agents of ecosystem change in Trinidadian streams.

Evolution has been shown to be a critical determinant of ecological processes in some systems, but its importance relative to traditional ecological effects is not well known. In addition, almost nothing is known about the role of coevolution in shaping ecosystem function. Here, we experimentally evaluated the relative effects of species invasion (a traditional ecological effect), evolution and coevolution on ecosystem processes in Trinidadian streams. We manipulated the presence and population-of-origin of two common fish species, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) and the killifish (Rivulus hartii). We measured epilithic algal biomass and accrual, aquatic invertebrate biomass, and detrital decomposition. Our results show that, for some ecosystem responses, the effects of evolution and coevolution were larger than the effects of species invasion. Guppy evolution in response to alternative predation regimes significantly influenced algal biomass and accrual rates. Guppies from a high-predation site caused an increase in algae relative to guppies from a low-predation site; algae effects were probably shaped by observed divergence in rates of nutrient excretion and algae consumption. Rivulus-guppy coevolution significantly influenced the biomass of aquatic invertebrates. Locally coevolved populations reduced invertebrate biomass relative to non-coevolved populations. These results challenge the general assumption that intraspecific diversity is a less critical determinant of ecosystem function than is interspecific diversity. Given existing evidence for contemporary evolution in these fish species, our findings suggest considerable potential for eco-evolutionary feedbacks to operate as populations adapt to natural or anthropogenic perturbations.