Swenson W, Wilson D S, Elias R
Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Aug 1;97(16):9110-4. doi: 10.1073/pnas.150237597.
Artificial selection has been practiced for centuries to shape the properties of individual organisms, providing Darwin with a powerful argument for his theory of natural selection. We show that the properties of whole ecosystems can also be shaped by artificial selection procedures. Ecosystems initiated in the laboratory vary phenotypically and a proportion of the variation is heritable, despite the fact that the ecosystems initially are composed of thousands of species and millions of individuals. Artificial ecosystem selection can be used for practical purposes, illustrates an important role for complex interactions in evolution, and challenges a widespread belief that selection is most effective at lower levels of the biological hierarchy.
几个世纪以来，人们一直在进行人工选择以塑造个体生物的特性，这为达尔文的自然选择理论提供了有力论据。我们表明，整个生态系统的特性也可以通过人工选择程序来塑造。尽管实验室中创建的生态系统最初由数千个物种和数百万个个体组成，但它们在表型上存在差异，且部分差异是可遗传的。人工生态系统选择可用于实际目的，说明了复杂相互作用在进化中的重要作用，并挑战了一种普遍观点，即选择在生物层次结构的较低层级最为有效。
