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
. 2015 Jan;8(1):23-46.
doi: 10.1111/eva.12234. Epub 2014 Dec 9.

Biological invasions, climate change and genomics

Steven L Chown  1 , Kathryn A Hodgins  1 , Philippa C Griffin  2 , John G Oakeshott  3 , Margaret Byrne  4 , Ary A Hoffmann  5
Affiliations
Review

Biological invasions, climate change and genomics

Steven L Chown et al. Evol Appl. 2015 Jan.

Abstract

The rate of biological invasions is expected to increase as the effects of climate change on biological communities become widespread. Climate change enhances habitat disturbance which facilitates the establishment of invasive species, which in turn provides opportunities for hybridization and introgression. These effects influence local biodiversity that can be tracked through genetic and genomic approaches. Metabarcoding and metagenomic approaches provide a way of monitoring some types of communities under climate change for the appearance of invasives. Introgression and hybridization can be followed by the analysis of entire genomes so that rapidly changing areas of the genome are identified and instances of genetic pollution monitored. Genomic markers enable accurate tracking of invasive species' geographic origin well beyond what was previously possible. New genomic tools are promoting fresh insights into classic questions about invading organisms under climate change, such as the role of genetic variation, local adaptation and climate pre-adaptation in successful invasions. These tools are providing managers with often more effective means to identify potential threats, improve surveillance and assess impacts on communities. We provide a framework for the application of genomic techniques within a management context and also indicate some important limitations in what can be achieved.

Keywords: adaptation; admixture; climate change; decision framework; genomics; hybridization; invasive species; management.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Genomic tools that can add to capacity for understanding risk and monitoring management actions at each stage of the invasion process. Tools can assist in the initial detection of an invasion, monitoring its spread after the initial detection and understanding the potential for invasions to expand and impact native species following evolutionary adaptation. Management priorities and questions relevant to each stage are also shown.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of population structure of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes as determined from microsatellite markers versus SNP markers. Based on a discriminant analysis, the SNP markers provide a far higher level of resolution of populations including the invaded (non-Asian) range of this species (from Rasic et al. 2014).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abdelkrim J, Pascal M, Calmet C. Samadi S. Importance of assessing population genetic structure before eradication of invasive species: examples from insular Norway rat populations. Conservation Biology. 2005;19:1509–1518.
    1. Adams MD, Celniker SE, Holt RA, Evans CA, Gocayne JD, Amanatides PG, Scherer SE, et al. The genome sequence of Drosophila melanogaster. Science. 2000;287:2185–2195. - PubMed
    1. Adams AL, van Heezik Y, Dickinson KJM. Robertson BC. Identifying eradication units in an invasive mammalian pest species. Biological Invasions. 2014;16:1481–1496.
    1. Adriaennsens EM. Cowan DA. Using signature genes as tools to address environmental viral ecology and diversity. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2014 doi: 10.1128/AEM.00878-14. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ainouche ML, Fortune PM, Salmon A, Parisod C, Grandbastien MA, Fukunaga K, Ricou M. Misset MT. Hybridization, polyploidy and invasion: lessons from Spartina (Poaceae) Biological Invasions. 2009;11:1159–1173.