As the climate changes, living things must adapt to new environmental conditions in one of two ways – either geographically or genetically. While it’s relatively simple for scientists to track and record a species’ geographic movements, proving their genetic adaptation over time can be much more difficult.
As the climate changes, living things must adapt to new environmental conditions in one of two ways – either geographically or genetically. While it’s relatively simple for scientists to track and record a species’ geographic movements, proving their genetic adaptation over time can be much more difficult.
A new study led by Colorado State University researchers in Nature Climate Change is one of the first to document climate adaptation at the genomic level in a wild population. Specifically, the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher – an endangered migratory bird – has shown an increase in genetic variation associated with tolerance to wetter and more humid environmental conditions.
Sheela Turbek, a postdoctoral researcher in CSU’s Department of Biology, led this study that sequenced the genomes of the Willow Flycatcher over a 100-plus year period, comparing DNA from museum specimens from the late 1800s to modern samples taken today.
Read more at Colorado State University
Photo by Tina Nord
