Global environmental change is challenging species with novel conditions, such that demographic and evolutionary trajectories of populations are often shaped by the exchange of organisms and alleles across landscapes. Current ecological theory predicts that random networks with dispersal shortcuts connecting distant sites can promote persistence when there is no capacity for evolution. Here, we show with an eco-evolutionary model that dispersal shortcuts across environmental gradients instead hinder persistence for populations that can evolve because long-distance migrants bring extreme trait values that are often maladaptive, short-circuiting the adaptive response of populations to directional change. Our results demonstrate that incorporating evolution and environmental heterogeneity fundamentally alters theoretical predictions regarding persistence in ecological networks.

中文翻译：

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进化逆转了网络结构对元种群持久性的影响

全球环境变化正在挑战具有新条件的物种，例如种群的人口统计和进化轨迹通常由生物和等位基因在景观中的交换形成。当前的生态学理论预测，当没有进化能力时，具有连接遥远地点的分散捷径的随机网络可以促进持久性。在这里，我们展示了一个生态进化模型，即跨越环境梯度的分散捷径反而阻碍了可以进化的种群的持久性，因为长途移民带来了通常不适应的极端特征值，从而缩短了种群对方向变化的适应性响应。