Evolution May Happen Faster Than We Think: A Study

Evolutionary responses to changes in ecology may take place faster than previously thought, according to a study published in the journal Ecology Letters.

In order to come to this decision, scientists placed soil mites in tubes and watched as the insect's age of maturity doubled in just 20 generations.

"What this study shows for the first time is that evolution and ecology go hand-in-hand," study's co-author and University of Leeds' professor Tim Benton told the BBC.

Previously, evolution was thought to work on a long timescale and ecology on a short timescale.

The experiment, designed to help researchers better understand whether the changing sizes among harvested fish species is a kind of evolutionary reaction to over-hunting, poses a new reality for those in the business of conserving animal species, Burton said.

"For example, if you think about the challenges of climate change and natural reserves, where do you put the reserves?" he asked. "The way that animals move across the landscape, their dispersal behavior, is likely to evolve as a result of climate change."

In that case, Benton asked, do you put nature reserves 10 miles apart because that's how far they travel now, or five miles apart because that is how far they may travel in 50 years?

What's more, Benton believes this evidence should be taken into consideration by those looking into population management schemes.

"Once you have lost the genes and the species has evolved into something different then it is very difficult to go back to what they were before."

And while exactly every effect the study's findings has yet to be explored, the effect of shrinking body size among those fish that are regularly hunted by humans is, according to the National Institute of Health, significant.

According to one study published by the organization, for some species a 4 percent decrease in average length over 50 years resulted in a 50 percent increase in predation mortality. 

"Therefore," the study states, "fisheries management practices that ignore contemporary life-history changes are likely to overestimate long-term yields and can lead to overfishing."