Stiftelsen Oscar och Lili Lamms Minne
Du är här: Hem // 2013 
TitelLinking landscape genetic structure with adaptation to changing environments
NoFO2013-0057
UniversitetLunds Universitet
InstitutionBiologiska Institutionen
HuvudsökandeRachael Dudaniec
Beviljat belopp 559 333
Sammanfattning
Climate change and habitat fragmentation are considered key pressures on biodiversity. Two spatial population processes are important determinants of a species’ vulnerability to habitat fragmentation and climate change: 1) the species’ ability to disperse and colonise new areas, and 2) the species’ ability to adapt to these new areas. This study will evaluate the sensitivity of the damselfly, Ischnura elegans, to habitat fragmentation versus land-use and climate change effects and assess the species’ expansion and adaptive potential using cutting edge genomics technologies in combination with a landscape genetics approach. This project will be led by the early-career researcher Dr. Rachael Dudaniec between May 2014 to May 2015. In collaboration with two senior researchers, we will utilise next-generation sequencing to examine evolutionary processes within naturally occurring I. elegans populations under variable and changing environments. Our sampling design will cover 17 sites spanning the entire species’ range in Sweden, including its northern range limit, as well as coastal versus inland sites, providing a dynamic environmental gradient in which to explore determinants of adaptation and range expansion under projected climate change. Our first core objective is to develop a statistically supported model that explains the landscape genetic structure of I. elegans throughout its range in Sweden. Our second core objective is to evaluate the roles of landscape connectivity versus the local environment in shaping current adaptive and morphological patterns in I. elegans. In doing so, we will examine for dispersal enhancing morphological traits at the range limit. We will analyse landscape data, both neutral and adaptive genetic markers (single-nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs), as well a suite of heritable morphological traits to achieve this. This work builds on a genomic dataset acquired for I. elegans in 2012-2013, from which a reference genome is being developed, and scheduled for completion early 2014. The project is also grounded in many years of research on I. elegans conducted by the collaborating senior scientists. The vulnerability of a species to land use and climate change is a function of the species' sensitivity and level of exposure to these impacts, mediated by the adaptive potential of the species (both ecological and evolutionary) and its resilience (dispersal/ colonisation potential). This project tackles both aspects directly by examining the relative influence of gene flow versus natural selection in a spatially explicit landscape context. Our project therefore develops methods relevant to all species that are subject to climate and land use change, including pest and invasive species, and those of conservation concern.