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Genetic change for earlier migration timing in a pink salmon population.
Proc Biol Sci. 2012 Sep 22; 279(1743):3870-8
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03 Sep 2012
Confirmation, Controversial, Good for Teaching, New Finding
DOI: 10.3410/f.717953763.793459374
Climate change has caused rapid phenotypic changes in many populations of animals and plants – but it has proven extremely hard in most cases to prove that this change is genetically based. Using a wealth of phenotypic and genetic data collected over 32 years, the authors show that at least part of...Continue reading
Climate change has caused rapid phenotypic changes in many populations of animals and plants – but it has proven extremely hard in most cases to prove that this change is genetically based. Using a wealth of phenotypic and genetic data collected over 32 years, the authors show that at least part of the trend toward earlier migration timing in a pink salmon population in Alaska is genetically based and probably due to temperature-based selection against late migrants. This is one of the very few instances where a phenotypic response to climate change has been confirmed to be evolutionary (as opposed to plastic). Dissenting opinions anyone?
Disclosures
None declared
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Hendry A P: F1000Prime Recommendation of [Kovach RP et al., Proc Biol Sci 2012, 279(1743):3870-8]. In F1000Prime, 03 Sep 2012; DOI: 10.3410/f.717953763.793459374. F1000Prime.com/717953763#eval793459374
F1000Prime Recommendations, Dissents and Comments for [Kovach RP et al., Proc Biol Sci 2012, 279(1743):3870-8]. In F1000Prime, 22 May 2013; F1000Prime.com/717953763
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To predict how climate change will influence populations, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms, particularly microevolution and phenotypic plasticity, that allow populations to persist in novel environmental conditions. Although evidence for climate-induced phenotypic change in populations is widespread, evidence documenting that these phenotypic changes are due to microevolution is exceedingly rare. In this study, we use 32 years of genetic data (17 complete generations) to determine whether there has been a genetic change towards earlier migration timing in a population of pink salmon that shows phenotypic change; average migration time occurs nearly two weeks earlier than it did 40 years ago. Experimental genetic data support the hypothesis that there has been directional selection for earlier migration timing, resulting in a substantial decrease in the late-migrating phenotype (from more than 30% to less than 10% of the total abundance). From 1983 to 2011, there was a significant decrease-over threefold-in the frequency of a genetic marker for late-migration timing, but there were minimal changes in allele frequencies at other neutral loci. These results demonstrate that there has been rapid microevolution for earlier migration timing in this population. Circadian rhythm genes, however, did not show any evidence for selective changes from 1993 to 2009.
PMID: 22787027
