A road map for molecular ecology

• Published in: Molecular ecology Vol. 22; no. 10; pp. 2605 - 2626
• Main Authors: Andrew, Rose L., Bernatchez, Louis, Bonin, Aurélie, Buerkle, C. Alex, Carstens, Bryan C., Emerson, Brent C., Garant, Dany, Giraud, Tatiana, Kane, Nolan C., Rogers, Sean M., Slate, Jon, Smith, Harry, Sork, Victoria L., Stone, Graham N., Vines, Timothy H., Waits, Lisette, Widmer, Alex, Rieseberg, Loren H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-05-2013; Blackwell; Wiley
• Subjects: Adaptation, Biological - genetics; behaviour; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; Biological evolution; community phylogeography; ecological genomics; Ecology - methods; Ecology - trends; Evolutionary biology; Food Chain; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Flow - genetics; Genetic Speciation; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing - methods; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing - trends; hybridization; Hybridization, Genetic - genetics; Interdisciplinary Communication; landscape genomics; Life Sciences; Metagenome - genetics; microbial diversity; molecular adaptation; Molecular biology; Molecular Biology - methods; Molecular Biology - trends; phylogeography; Phylogeography - methods; Population genetics, reproduction patterns; Populations and Evolution; speciation; trophic ecology; landscape genomics; Landscape; Biological evolution; Genomics; Phylogeography; Diversity; Highway; Trophic relation; Ecology; Hybridization; molecular adaptation; community phylogeography; Maps; ecological genomics; trophic ecology; behaviour; Microorganism; microbial diversity; Community; Speciation; Adaptation
• ISSN: 0962-1083; 1365-294X
• DOI: 10.1111/mec.12319

The discipline of molecular ecology has undergone enormous changes since the journal bearing its name was launched approximately two decades ago. The field has seen great strides in analytical methods development, made groundbreaking discoveries and experienced a revolution in genotyping technology. Here, we provide brief perspectives on the main subdisciplines of molecular ecology, describe key questions and goals, discuss common challenges, predict future research directions and suggest research priorities for the next 20 years.