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Plastic and evolutionary responses to climate change in fish.
Lisa G Crozier1, Jeffrey A Hutchings2
1Northwest Fisheries Science Center Seattle, WA, USA.
Evolutionary Applications
|January 24, 2014
Summary
Fish show rapid phenotypic changes in response to climate change, primarily driven by temperature shifts. While plasticity is common, evidence for evolutionary adaptation remains limited, necessitating advanced detection methods.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Climate Science
Background:
- Anthropogenic climate change leaves documented ecological and physical 'fingerprints' across taxa.
- Phenotypic responses in fish to recent climate change are increasingly observed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review evidence for phenotypic responses to climate change in fish.
- To assess the role of plasticity versus evolutionary mechanisms in these responses.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of studies documenting phenotypic changes in fish.
- Analysis of trait changes (migration timing, maturity, growth, survival, fecundity) linked to environmental variables, primarily temperature.
Main Results:
- Observed phenotypic changes in fish traits were mainly associated with temperature variations.
- Most observed changes suggest rapid, plastic population responses to environmental variability rather than formal evolutionary adaptation.
- Only two studies formally attributed phenotypic changes to evolutionary mechanisms.
Conclusions:
- Fish exhibit significant phenotypic plasticity in response to climate change, particularly temperature.
- Further research and advanced methods are needed to detect and forecast evolutionary adaptation in fish.
- Forecasting adaptive change must consider synergistic interactions of multiple climate-related selection pressures.
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