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Local adaptation and future climate vulnerability in a wild rodent
Silvia Marková1, Hayley C Lanier2,3, Marco A Escalante1
1Laboratory of Molecular Ecology, Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Rumburská 89, 277 21, Liběchov, Czech Republic.
Nature Communications
|November 29, 2023
Summary
Bank voles in Britain face extinction risk due to climate change, as their genetic diversity is limited. Understanding genomic shifts is crucial for predicting species survival in changing environments.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Genomics
- Climate change adaptation
Background:
- Climate change is a significant threat to biodiversity, forcing species to adapt or face extinction.
- Rapid environmental changes necessitate rapid adaptation, primarily relying on existing genetic variation.
- The bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) serves as a model organism to study adaptation in Palearctic mammals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify adaptive genetic variation in bank voles in response to climate change.
- To assess the significance of this variation for future climate scenarios.
- To understand the role of ancestral variation in species' adaptive resilience.
Main Methods:
- Whole-genome sequencing of bank vole populations.
- Genetic-environment association analyses.
- Analysis of adaptive loci and their relationship to climate variables.
Main Results:
- Peripheral bank vole populations in Britain are at the limits of their adaptive capacity.
- Regional climate variables influence the selection of adaptive variants.
- Identified genes associated with antioxidant defense and thermal/hypoxic cross-adaptation.
Conclusions:
- Bank vole populations may require new adaptive variation to cope with future climate change.
- Genomic composition shifts are critical for predicting species' survival.
- Understanding adaptive resilience is key to conservation efforts under climate change.
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