Selection history alters fitness across ecological interactions in a fly-parasitoid system

Abstract

Species interactions shape ecological dynamics, but adaptation to one interaction can trade off with others. Experiments that measure such evolved fitness changes across multiple interactions remain rare. We used experimental evolution to test whether recent selection under one ecological interaction changes fitness under other interactions in a fly-parasitoid system. We evolved a genetically diverse Drosophila melanogaster population for 15-17 generations under three regimes: benign conditions (control), high intraspecific competition, and infection by the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi. We then measured fly fitness (egg-to-adult survival and subsequent reproduction) under benign conditions, high intraspecific competition, and infection by three other parasitoid species and an additional conspecific L. boulardi strain. Selection history strongly influenced fitness across interactions. Populations maintained under high larval density showed reduced survival under infection by L. boulardi and L. victoriae, indicating a trade-off between past selection for competition and defence against some parasitoids. Populations evolved under parasitoid infection by L. boulardi showed increased resistance to a conspecific strain but reduced fitness when infected by another species, L. heterotoma. Our results show that rapid evolution in response to a single interaction can reshape multiple ecological interactions through fitness trade-offs, highlighting how recent evolutionary history may influence community dynamics and invasion susceptibility.