Repeating Historical Studies to Understand Functional Responses to Environmental Change

Area of Science:

• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Organismal Biology

Background:

• Organismal responses to environmental change are often heterogeneous and unpredictable.
• Understanding the underlying mechanisms is crucial for ecological and evolutionary forecasting.
• Existing approaches like resurrection studies have limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and advocate for the approach of repeating historical experiments (functional resurveys) to understand organismal responses to environmental change.
• To highlight the potential of this underutilized method for extending current understanding.
• To demonstrate how functional resurveys can improve ecological and evolutionary predictions.

Main Methods:

• Repeating historical physiological measurements and behavioral experiments.
• Replicating selection and quantitative genetic experiments.
• Measuring ecosystem function over time.
• Utilizing novel approaches like temporal genomics and genomic reconstruction.
• Inferring organismal function from modern and historical specimens and data.

Main Results:

• Functional resurveys reveal key organismal mechanisms mediating responses to environmental change.
• The approach is applicable across physiological, behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary studies.
• It offers a broader scope than traditional resurrection studies.
• Novel methods enhance the ability to infer historical and current organismal function.

Conclusions:

• Repeating historical experiments provides a powerful, versatile method for studying organismal adaptation.
• Functional resurveys significantly enhance our ability to predict ecological and evolutionary outcomes.
• This approach is essential for understanding and forecasting life in a changing world.