Genomic assessment of local adaptation in dwarf birch to inform assisted gene flow.

ABSTRACT: When populations of a rare species are small, isolated and declining under climate change, some populations may become locally maladapted. Detecting this maladaptation may allow effective rapid conservation interventions, even if based on incomplete knowledge. Population maladaptation may be estimated by finding genome-environment associations (GEA) between allele frequencies and environmental variables across a local species range, and identifying populations whose allele frequencies do not fit with these trends. We can then design assisted gene flow strategies for maladapted populations, to adjust their allele frequencies, entailing lower levels of intervention than with undirected conservation action. Here, we investigate this strategy in Scottish populations of the montane plant dwarf

SUBMITTER: Borrell JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6935589 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature