Animals must decode environmental information to make adaptive decisions. In passive dispersers, for whom only departure timing is under control, the mechanisms of take‐off remain poorly understood. Using experimental evolution, we tested how niche breadth modulates passive dispersal in phytophagous mites by exposing specialist and generalist lineages to host‐derived kairomones. Dispersal was highly context‐dependent. Generali...

Changes in the species richness of (meta‐)communities emerge from changes in the relative species abundance distribution (SAD), the total density of individuals, and the amount of spatial aggregation of individuals from the same species. Yet, how human disturbance affects these underlying diversity components at different spatial scales and how this interacts with important species traits, like dispersal capacity, remain poorl...

Aim The continuous spread of invasive species is attributed to demographic processes and high dispersal rates. Both can change and evolve during range expansion, eventually accelerating spread dynamics. Here, we document such an accelerated spread for one of the most invasive spiders in Europe, the dwarf spider Mermessus trilobatus , and test whether dispersal, reproduction or competitive ability is at the source of this patte...

Dispersal is a central biological process tightly integrated into life‐histories, morphology, physiology and behaviour. Such associations, or syndromes, are anticipated to impact the eco‐evolutionary dynamics of spatially structured populations, and cascade into ecosystem processes. As for dispersal on its own, these syndromes are likely neither fixed nor random, but conditional on the experienced environment. We experimentall...

Population spread from a limited pool of founding propagules is at the basis of biological invasions. The size and genetic variation of these propagules eventually affect whether the invasion is successful or not. The inevitable bottleneck at introduction decreases genetic diversity, and therefore should affect population growth and spread. However, many heavily bottlenecked invasive populations have been successful in nature....

Classical ecological theory posits that species partition resources such that each species occupies a unique resource niche. In general, the availability of more resources allows more species to co‐occur. Thus, a strong relationship between communities of consumers and their resources is expected. However, correlations may be influenced by other layers in the food web, or by the environment. Here we show, by studying the relat...

The increasing urbanization process is hypothesized to drastically alter (semi‐)natural environments with a concomitant major decline in species abundance and diversity. Yet, studies on this effect of urbanization, and the spatial scale at which it acts, are at present inconclusive due to the large heterogeneity in taxonomic groups and spatial scales at which this relationship has been investigated among studies. Comprehensive...

Dispersal evolution impacts the fluxes of individuals and hence, connectivity in metapopulations. Connectivity is therefore decoupled from the structural connectedness of the patches within the spatial network. Because of demographic feedbacks, local selection also drives the evolution of other life history traits. We investigated how different levels of connectedness affect trait evolution in experimental metapopulations of t...

Aim The great variation in range sizes among species has fascinated ecologists for decades. Reef‐associated fish species live in highly spatially structured habitats and adopt a wide range of dispersal strategies. We consequently expect species with greater dispersal ability to occupy larger ranges. However, empirical evidence for such a positive relationship between dispersal and range size remains scarce. Here, we unveil the...

Forest fragments in highly disturbed landscapes provide important ecosystem services ranging from acting as biodiversity reservoir to providing timber or regulating hydrology. Managing the tree species richness and composition of these fragments to optimize their functioning and the deliverance of multiple ecosystem services is of great practical relevance. However, both the strength and direction of tree species richness and...

Aim Island biogeography theory describes how island size and isolation determine population colonization success. Large islands sustain larger populations than small ones and experience less demographic stochasticity, thus a lower extinction risk. Nearby islands are more likely to be colonized than distant ones, because they receive more immigrants from the mainland. However, local conditions on islands are often different fro...

With ongoing global change, life is continuously forced to move to novel areas, which leads to dynamically changing species ranges. As dispersal is central to range dynamics, factors promoting fast and distant dispersal are key to understanding and predicting species ranges. During range expansions, genetic variation is depleted at the expanding front. Such conditions should reduce evolutionary potential, while increasing kin...

Urban areas are an extreme example of human‐changed environments, exposing organisms to multiple and strong selection pressures. Adaptive behavioral responses are thought to play a major role in animals’ success or failure in such new environments. Approaches based on functional traits have proven especially valuable to understand how species communities respond to environmental gradients. Until recently, they have, however, o...