Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Dec;160(4):1728-40.
doi: 10.1104/pp.112.206219. Epub 2012 Oct 5.

Evolutionary and ecological responses to anthropogenic climate change: update on anthropogenic climate change

Jill T Anderson  1 , Anne Marie Panetta, Thomas Mitchell-Olds
Affiliations
Review

Evolutionary and ecological responses to anthropogenic climate change: update on anthropogenic climate change

Jill T Anderson et al. Plant Physiol. 2012 Dec.
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Climate change disrupts patterns of local adaptation (hypothesis 4). In this thought experiment, genotypes from three distinct elevations are reciprocally transplanted into gardens at each elevation. Under contemporary conditions (A), local genotypes have a fitness advantage at their home elevation, reflecting local adaptation. In contrast, future climatic conditions (B) result in local maladaptation, wherein novel conditions favor warm-adapted genotypes from lower elevations. In this case, the fitness of all genotypes is depressed at the lowest elevation. The pattern in B would be more complex if nonclimatic agents of selection, such as edaphic conditions, also contributed to local adaptation. In that case, recombinant genotypes from hybridization of local and lower elevation parents could exhibit maximum fitness in future climates (hypothesis 8). In the long run, rapid evolution could lead to adaptation to global change, restoring patterns of local adaptation. In both panels, local genotypes are represented by closed symbols.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Schematic of steps to test the adaptive potential of fragmented populations (hypothesis 9). In step 1, future studies should sample from populations that differ in size and geographic isolation, represented here by circles of varying sizes. Step 2 assesses genetic diversity at neutral loci as a function of effective population size and geographic isolation. This step is where most studies of the genetic ramifications of habitat fragmentation have stopped. In step 3, common garden experiments quantify fitness as well as genetic variation (VA) in multiple ecologically relevant traits. Statistical analyses should determine whether fitness and VA vary as a function of effective population size, geographic or genetic isolation, and (if known) the time since habitat fragmentation occurred. These analyses could incorporate population genetic data (step 2). Finally, in step 4, researchers expose genotypes to contemporary versus future conditions and quantify fitness components, VA, and predicted responses to selection. As in step 3, researchers could analyze fitness, VA, and other response variables as a function of population size and genetic isolation. The fitness consequences of climate change could be more severe in fragmented than in unfragmented populations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aguilar R, Quesada M, Ashworth L, Herrerias-Diego Y, Lobo J. (2008) Genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation in plant populations: susceptible signals in plant traits and methodological approaches. Mol Ecol 17: 5177–5188 - PubMed
    1. Ainsworth EA, Long SP. (2005) What have we learned from 15 years of free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE)? A meta-analytic review of the responses of photosynthesis, canopy properties and plant production to rising CO2. New Phytol 165: 351–371 - PubMed
    1. Aitken SN, Yeaman S, Holliday JA, Wang T, Curtis-McLane S. (2008) Adaptation, migration or extirpation: climate change outcomes for tree populations. Evolutionary Applications 1: 95–111 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Allendorf FW, Hohenlohe PA, Luikart G. (2010) Genomics and the future of conservation genetics. Nat Rev Genet 11: 697–709 - PubMed
    1. Alsos IG, Ehrich D, Thuiller W, Bronken Eidesen P, Tribsch A, Schonswetter P, Lagaye C, Taberlet P, Brochmann C. (2012) Genetic consequences of climate change for northern plants. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 279: 2042–2051 - PMC - PubMed

Publication types