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Abstract

Can heritable traits in a single species affect an entire ecosystem? Recent studies
show that such traits in a common tree have predictable effects on community structure
and ecosystem processes. Because these ‘community and ecosystem phenotypes’ have a
genetic basis and are heritable, we can begin to apply the principles of population and
quantitative genetics to place the study of complex communities and ecosystems within an
evolutionary framework. This framework could allow us to understand, for the first time, the
genetic basis of ecosystem processes, and the effect of such phenomena as climate change
and introduced transgenic organisms on entire communities.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Whitham, TG and Bailey, JK and Schweitzer, JA and Shuster, SM and Bangert, RK and LeRoy, CJ and Lonsdorf, E and Allan, GJ and DiFazio, SP and Potts, BM and Fischer, DG and Gehring, CA and Lindroth, RL and Marks, JC and Hart, SC and Wimp, GM and Wooley, SC
Journal or Publication Title:	Nature
DOI / ID Number:	10.1038/nrg1877
Additional Information:	BM Potts. Copyright © 2006, Nature Publishing Group
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