Evolutionary Responses to Warming

Abstract

Climate change is predicted to dramatically alter biological diversity and distributions, driving extirpations, extinctions, and extensive range shifts across the globe. Warming can also, however, lead to phenotypic or behavioural plasticity, as species adapt to new conditions. Recent genomic research indicates that some species are capable of rapid evolution as selection favours adaptive responses to environmental change and altered or novel niche spaces. New advances are providing mechanistic insights into how temperature might accelerate evolution in the Anthropocene. These discoveries highlight intriguing new research directions – such as using geothermal and polar systems combined with powerful genomic tools – that will help us to understand the processes underpinning adaptive evolution and better project how ecosystems will change in a warming world.