New conservation methods, such as seed banks and frozen zoos, gene editing, and assisted gene flow, hold promise to aid struggling animal and plant populations as nature sputters toward a hotter, drier, harsher future. The problem: New strategies must take advantage of the advantages that species have developed for their particular local habitats.
In BioScience, a group of biologists argue that advances in our understanding of local adaptability today can be effective instruments for fostering second chances when habitats are threatened by changing temperatures.
Biologists have become more adept at detecting the successful adaptations that animals have made to their habitats. Understanding the underlying genetics that enable a creature to survive a changing climate has led to new breakthroughs that can capitalize on those techniques. By freezing plant or animal cells that are resistant to heat stress or that are most in danger of going extinct owing to climate change, this knowledge can be used to identify people for cryopreservation or banking.
Understanding and technology working together could give some species their last chance.
According to Mariah Meek, assistant professor of integrative biology in the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University, “it is incredibly exciting that we are now at the point where we have the instruments to identify and investigate local adaptation in many species of conservation value.” “This knowledge was previously restricted to numerous, thoroughly researched species that could be altered and expanded in carefully planned studies.” That significantly reduced our ability to comprehend local adaptation in those animals that are challenging to raise in a controlled environment. “We can now use this knowledge to better plan our conservation efforts and enhance results.”
In a special session sponsored by the Society for Conservation Biology Conservation Genetics Working Group at the North American Congress for Conservation Biology in 2018, a group of scientists got together to discuss how conservation could benefit from new knowledge on local adaptability. Since everyone was observing rapid effects on the populations they investigated, including fish, birds, wildflowers, frogs, and mammals, the consequences of a changing climate were the obvious catalyst.
According to Meek, the investigation of how cutting-edge research may be used to address conservation-related problems resulted from this dialogue, giving people additional resources to transform ideas into actions.
For instance, in order to target animal or plant populations that are having a hard time adapting to environmental change, conservation managers are now able to locate stronger populations and help their genes spread to those populations. Through assisted gene flow, populations that are struggling to produce resilient offspring are being introduced to people with genotypes and fitness levels that have been identified as desirable.
“This approach could be used to pre-adapt a population dealing with rapid environmental change as well as to infuse a struggling population with new genetic variation, the raw material for natural selection,” said Sarah Fitzpatrick, assistant professor of integrative biology and a faculty member at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. If done correctly, this action can help with long-term perseverance.
The only native trout to the eastern United States that is substantially threatened by rising water temperatures is the brook trout, whose genetic makeup determines its resistance to heat stress. In order to determine which groups are most at risk from rising temperatures as well as which populations may have the genetic diversity necessary to survive into the future, Meek and her team are integrating common garden studies with genome sequencing and climate forecasts. This knowledge can assist direct conservation efforts, such as transporting trout that have been identified as being tolerant of warmer temperatures to join populations that are in danger, in order to support the long-term sustainability of brook trout.
According to co-author Cinnamon Mittan-Moreau, an MSU Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow who is supervised by Fitzpatrick, knowledge about local adaptation in the donor can aid in determining the appropriate source for bringing new people to the suffering population. It’s crucial to combine knowledge of local adaptation with an in-depth understanding of the biology and hazards facing the species.
Mittan added that conservation must continue to be a comprehensive effort. For instance, if habitat availability poses the greatest threat to a species, habitat restoration may be more important than efforts to boost genetic diversity or introduce potentially adaptive features. Additionally, factors like illness or logistical restrictions must be taken into account. To determine the most crucial qualities to examine for local adaptation and the most practical and doable management actions to adopt, collaboration between wildlife managers and genetic researchers is necessary.
Understanding local adaptation to prepare populations for climate change was written by Erik Beever, Soraia Barbosa, Nicholas Fletcher, Brendan Reid, Shane Campbell-Staton, Nancy Green, and Jessica Hellmann, in addition to Meek and Mittan-Moreau, all of whom are members of MSU’s Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program.
