Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026
08:11
Adaptation at the Extremes of Life: Experimental Evolution with the Extremophile Archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius
Published on: June 14, 2024
Realization of ongoing evolutionary adaptation in the field
Ruth G Shaw1, Charles J Geyer2, Mason W Kulbaba1,3
1Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota-TC, St. Paul, MN, United States.
Evolution Letters
|June 5, 2026
Summary
Wild plants can adapt to environmental changes through evolution. This study shows that while environmental shifts significantly impact plant fitness, adaptive genetic changes help populations persist.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Plant Science
Background:
- Environmental changes pose risks to wild plant population persistence.
- Plant adaptation is crucial for survival, relying on evolutionary capacity.
- Limited data exists on the actual rates of wild plant adaptation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify intergenerational changes in average absolute fitness in wild plant populations.
- To differentiate between adaptive genetic change and environmental effects on fitness.
- To assess the role of evolutionary adaptation in mitigating environmental impacts on fitness.
Main Methods:
- Estimating additive genetic variance for fitness in three wild plant populations over three years.
- Measuring the difference in average absolute fitness between successive generations.
- Partitioning fitness changes into genetic, environmental, and residual components.
Main Results:
- Evolutionary adaptation, indicated by increased average fitness, was detected in all six intergenerational cases studied.
- Environmental differences between years generally had a larger effect on fitness than genetic changes.
- Adaptive genetic responses were found to significantly reduce the negative effects of environmental change on population fitness.
Conclusions:
- Wild plant populations exhibit capacity for evolutionary adaptation in response to environmental change.
- While environmental fluctuations are significant drivers of fitness variation, genetic adaptation plays a vital role in population resilience.
- Understanding adaptive evolution is key to predicting plant population persistence in changing environments.
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