Unlocking Nature's Secrets

The American Society of Naturalists is dedicated to advancing and diffusing knowledge of organic evolution and other broad biological principles to enhance the conceptual unification of the biological sciences ¹ .

In 2010, the Society recognized scientists whose work embodied this mission, presenting two major awards that honored both a lifetime of achievement and a specific, exceptional annual contribution.

The research by Kozak and Wiens tackled a fundamental question in ecology: what determines the distribution of species across the planet? Specifically, they sought to explain why more species are found at certain elevations than others.

The Key Concept: Niche Conservatism

The central theory tested in their work is Niche Conservatism. This is the idea that species tend to retain ancestral ecological characteristics, such as their climate tolerances, over long evolutionary periods. Instead of rapidly adapting to new conditions, many species track their preferred environments or see their ranges limited by these inherited traits ¹ .

The Experimental Approach: A Decade of Data Meets Modern Analysis

Kozak and Wiens focused on the diverse salamander populations of the Appalachian Mountains. Their methodology did not involve a single controlled experiment but was a powerful synthesis of field data and phylogenetic analysis.

Research Tools and Methods

Groundbreaking Results and Their Meaning

The core finding of Kozak and Wiens was that the high diversity of salamanders at low elevations was not caused by species evolving rapidly to new conditions at higher elevations. Instead, it was primarily due to niche conservatism.

Their analysis suggested that salamanders have retained adaptations to the warm, wet environments that were once widespread in the region. As global climates cooled over millions of years, these conditions became restricted to lower elevations. The results demonstrated that the current distribution of species is a dynamic legacy of deep evolutionary history.

Appalachian salamanders, the focus of Kozak and Wiens' research on niche conservatism.

The 2010 ASN Award for Distinguished Achievement recognized Robert E. Ricklefs, whose work has profound implications for how we understand a universal process: aging.

His research, including a seminal 1998 paper in The American Naturalist, tested a fundamental prediction about the genetic basis of lifespan. He compared aging rates between birds and mammals, finding that despite their vastly different physiologies, they aged in predictable ways that supported evolutionary theories of aging.

This work helped bridge the fields of genetics, ecology, and evolutionary biology.

Comparative Analysis of Aging

The work honored by the ASN in 2010 continues to be highly influential. The concept of niche conservatism is now central to predicting how species might respond to modern climate change. If species cannot easily adapt, they must move to track their climate niche—or face extinction.

Similarly, the evolutionary principles of aging explored by Ricklefs inform modern research into genetics and human longevity. These awards highlight how asking broad, fundamental questions about the natural world can provide crucial insights into the challenges of the present and future.