A revolutionary way to reconstruct evolutionary dynamics in nature over centuries

Research output: Contribution to conference (unpublished)Abstractpeer-review

Abstract

Understanding the consequences of environmental change on natural populations has been elusive because the causes and effects of such changes occur over many decades, and are therefore difficult to measure.
Currently, the study of evolutionary dynamics along extended time axes is most commonly addressed in species with short generation times easily propagated in controlled laboratory conditions. Here, I propose a revolutionary approach to generate longitudinal data from natural systems across the time-span of multiple human careers. This approach, "actuarial ecology", measures then predicts the risk incurred by natural ecosystems from human-driven changes.
I will present the first genome-level study in which we identify adaptive responses to a suite of environmental stressors (e.g. land use changes) in populations of the waterflea Daphnia magna resurrected from a complex landscape of shallow ponds, and validated these findings in time, using sediment cores with known histories for specific stressors. Further, I propose the integration of these longitudinal data in forecast modelling to generate accurate predictions for species and ecosystems persistence in insipient climatic change
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusUnpublished - 2015
EventThe International Biogeography Society - Bayreuth, Germany
Duration: 8 Jan 201512 Jan 2015
https://www.biogeography.org/meetings/bayreuth-2015/

Conference

ConferenceThe International Biogeography Society
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityBayreuth
Period8/01/1512/01/15
Internet address

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