Coevolutionary dynamics in metaecosystems uses the julia package EvoDynamics.jl with forward spatially explicit simulations to connect complex polygenic trait architecture to biodiversity dynamics.
Coupling genomics and trait architecture in species-rich landscapes refers to the study of the relationship between an organism's genetic makeup, i.e., genomics, and its observable characteristics or traits, i.e., the phenome, such a coupling, the architecture connecting genes to traits contributing to species diversity is at a very incipient stage. Architecture gradients can be used to better understand biodiversity dynamics in the face of ongoing environmental challenges, such as climate change and habitat destruction. Yet, exploring the architecture of genes and traits that are important for an organism's survival and reproduction is full of challenges. Many studies in ecology and evolution have reported complex genotype to trait interactions suggesting that selection does not operate on traits in isolation, but instead act on combinations of traits. The relative contributions of each trait to fitness as well as the fitness functions are mostly unknown for most taxa. Therefore, the theory connecting complex genotype-to-trait architecture to multispecies assemblages and biodiversity dynamics still require many intermediate steps with assumptions to be tested as the data for more species accumulates. COMETA aims to use flexible forward simulations using the EvoDynamics.jl package to explore the interplay between complex genotype-to-trait architecture and biodiversity dynamics. Currently two boundary architectures are the correlations between interacting traits and traits operating in isolation with modular architecture along hierarchy gradients, i.e., trait contributions to fitness can be equal, i.e., heterarchy, but some traits can also be dominant, forming a trait hierarchy. Which of these scenarios predict more resilient biodiversity responses to rapidly changing ecosystems?