Ecological Speciation

Abstract The origin of biological diversity, via the formation of new species, can be inextricably linked to adaptation to the ecological environment. Specifically, ecological processes are central to the formation of new species when barriers to gene flow (reproductive isolation) evolve between populations as a result of ecologically based divergent natural selection. This process of ‘ecological speciation’ has seen a large body of focused research in the last ten-fifteen years, and a review and synthesis of the theoretical and empirical literature is now timely. The book begins by clarifying what ecological speciation is, its alternatives, and the predictions that can be used to test for it. It then reviews…