Editing Ecotype (section)

==Terminology==

Ecotypes are closely related to [[Polymorphism (biology)|morphs]] or [[Polymorphism (biology)|polymorphisms]] which is defined as the existence of distinct phenotypes among members of the same species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wiens |first=John J. |date=November 1999 |title=Polymorphism in Systematics and Comparative Biology |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.30.1.327 |journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics |language=en |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=327–362 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.30.1.327 |bibcode=1999AnRES..30..327W |issn=0066-4162|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Another term closely related is [[Gene polymorphism|genetic polymorphism]]; and it is when species of the same population display variation in a specific DNA sequence, i.e. as a result of having more than one allele in a gene's locus.'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Polymorphism |url=https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Polymorphism |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=www.genome.gov |language=en}}</ref>.''' In order to be classified as such, morphs must occupy the same habitat at the same time and belong to a [[panmictic]] population (whose members can all potentially interbreed).<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1966-03-22 |title=Genetic polymorphism |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.1966.0037 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=164 |issue=995 |pages=350–361 |doi=10.1098/rspb.1966.0037 |pmid=4379524 |issn=0080-4649 |last1=Ford |first1=E. B. |bibcode=1966RSPSB.164..350F |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Polymorphism are maintained in populations of species by natural selection.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Moulherat |first1=Sylvain |last2=Chaine |first2=Alexis |last3=Mangin |first3=Alain |last4=Aubret |first4=Fabien |last5=Sinervo |first5=Barry |last6=Clobert |first6=Jean |date=2017-11-21 |title=The roles of plasticity versus dominance in maintaining polymorphism in mating strategies |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=15939 |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-15078-1 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5698437 |pmid=29162832|bibcode=2017NatSR...715939M }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Glaser-Schmitt |first1=Amanda |last2=Ramnarine |first2=Timothy J. S. |last3=Parsch |first3=John |date=May 2024 |title=Rapid evolutionary change, constraints and the maintenance of polymorphism in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.17024 |journal=Molecular Ecology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=10 |pages=e17024 |doi=10.1111/mec.17024 |pmid=37222070 |bibcode=2024MolEc..33E7024G |issn=0962-1083}}</ref> In fact, Begon, Townsend, and Harper assert that{{Cquote|There is not always clear distinction between local ecotypes and genetic polymorphisms.}}

The notions "form" and "ecotype" may appear to correspond to a static phenomenon, however; this is not always the case.<ref name="dbl" /> Evolution occurs continuously both in time and space, so that ecotypes or forms may qualify as distinct species in a few generations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pallarés |first1=Susana |last2=Ortego |first2=Joaquín |last3=Carbonell |first3=José Antonio |last4=Franco-Fuentes |first4=Eduardo |last5=Bilton |first5=David T. |last6=Millán |first6=Andrés |last7=Abellán |first7=Pedro |date=September 2024 |title=Genomic, morphological and physiological data support fast ecotypic differentiation and incipient speciation in an alpine diving beetle |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.17487 |journal=Molecular Ecology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=17 |pages=e17487 |doi=10.1111/mec.17487 |pmid=39108249 |bibcode=2024MolEc..33E7487P |issn=0962-1083|doi-access=free }}</ref> Begon, Townsend, and Harper use an illuminating analogy on this:

{{Cquote|... the origin of a species, whether [[Allopatric speciation|allopatric]] or [[Sympatric speciation|sympatric]], is a process, not an event. For the formation of a new species, like the boiling of an egg, there is some freedom to argue about when it is completed.
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Thus ecotypes and morphs can be thought of as precursory steps of potential [[speciation]].<ref name=dbl>{{cite journal |last1=Lowry |first1=David B. |title=Ecotypes and the controversy over stages in the formation of new species |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |date=June 2012 |volume=106 |issue=2 |pages=241–257 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.01867.x |doi-access=free }}</ref>