The Tempo and Mode of Toxicant Sensitivity Evolution

Presented at Evolution in Sweden 2025 in Linköping

poster

Authors

Affiliations

Iain R. Moodie

Lund University

Stephen P. De Lisle

Karlstad University

Published

January 13, 2025

Abstract

Chemical pollution is a critical driver of biodiversity loss, impacting ecosystems worldwide. Species differ remarkably in their sensitivities to environmental toxicants, and understanding why is crucial to better predict ecological risks and inform conservation strategies. By considering effect concentrations (the concentration of toxicant X that produces effect Y in species Z) as quantitative traits in a macro-evolutionary perspective, we can investigate how toxicant sensitivity evolves across diverse taxa. Here, we use large ecotoxicological databases of standardised effect concentrations (>1 million empirical results) for a wide variety of toxicants and species. Combined with time-calibrated molecular phylogenies, we use a data-driven phylogenetic comparative framework to elucidate the processes and patterns that have given rise to contemporary distributions of species’ sensitivities. Our analysis revealed that the tempo and mode of toxicant sensitivity evolution differed across classes of toxicants, and recovered cases of convergent evolution across deeply diverged taxa.

Poster

Citation

BibTeX citation:

@unpublished{moodie2025,
  author = {Moodie, Iain R. and De Lisle, Stephen P.},
  title = {The {Tempo} and {Mode} of {Toxicant} {Sensitivity}
    {Evolution}},
  date = {2025-01-13},
  address = {Evolution in Sweden},
  url = {https://irmoodie.com/presentations/moodieEvolutionInSweden2025.html},
  langid = {en},
  abstract = {Chemical pollution is a critical driver of biodiversity
    loss, impacting ecosystems worldwide. Species differ remarkably in
    their sensitivities to environmental toxicants, and understanding
    why is crucial to better predict ecological risks and inform
    conservation strategies. By considering effect concentrations (the
    concentration of toxicant X that produces effect Y in species Z) as
    quantitative traits in a macro-evolutionary perspective, we can
    investigate how toxicant sensitivity evolves across diverse taxa.
    Here, we use large ecotoxicological databases of standardised effect
    concentrations (\textgreater1 million empirical results) for a wide
    variety of toxicants and species. Combined with time-calibrated
    molecular phylogenies, we use a data-driven phylogenetic comparative
    framework to elucidate the processes and patterns that have given
    rise to contemporary distributions of species’ sensitivities. Our
    analysis revealed that the tempo and mode of toxicant sensitivity
    evolution differed across classes of toxicants, and recovered cases
    of convergent evolution across deeply diverged taxa.}
}

For attribution, please cite this work as:

Moodie, I. R., and S. P. De Lisle. 2025. The Tempo and Mode of Toxicant Sensitivity Evolution. Poster, Evolution in Sweden.