A conceptual framework for the evolution of ecological specialisation

Ecology Letters (2011) 14 : 841–851 Abstract Ecological specialisation concerns all species and underlies many major ecological and evolutionary patterns. Yet its status as a unifying concept is not always appreciated because of its similarity to concepts of the niche, the many levels of biological phenomena to which it applies, and the complexity of the mechanisms influencing it. The evolution of specialisation requires the coupling of...