Contemporary temperature-driven divergence in a Nordic freshwater fish under conditions commonly thought to hinder adaptation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Evaluating the limits of adaptation to temperature is important given the IPCC-predicted rise in global temperatures. The rate and scope of evolutionary adaptation can be limited by low genetic diversity, gene flow, and costs associated with adaptive change. Freshwater organisms are physically confined to lakes and rivers, and must therefore deal directly with climate variation and change. In this study, we take advantage of a system characterised by low genetic variation, small population size, gene flow and between-trait trade-offs to study how such conditions affect the ability of a freshwater fish to adapt to climate change. We test for genetically-based differences in developmental traits indicating local adaptation, by conducting a common-garden experiment using em

SUBMITTER: Kavanagh KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2994878 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature