Predicting rapid adaptation in time from adaptation in space: A 30-year field experiment in marine snails
Journal article, 2024
Predicting the outcomes of adaptation is a major goal of evolutionary biology. When temporal changes in the environment mirror spatial gradients, it opens up the potential for predicting the course of adaptive evolution over time based on patterns of spatial genetic and phenotypic variation. We assessed this approach in a 30-year transplant experiment in the intertidal snail Littorina saxatilis. In 1992, snails were transplanted from a predation-dominated environment to one dominated by wave action. On the basis of spatial patterns, we predicted transitions in shell size and morphology, allele frequencies at positions throughout the genome, and chromosomal rearrangement frequencies. Observed changes closely agreed with predictions and transformation was both dramatic and rapid. Hence, adaptation can be predicted from knowledge of the phenotypic and genetic variation among populations.
Author
Diego Garcia Castillo
Institute of Science and Technology Austria
Nick Barton
Institute of Science and Technology Austria
Rui Faria
University of Porto
Jenny Larsson
Chalmers, Mathematical Sciences, Applied Mathematics and Statistics
University of Gothenburg
Sean Stankowski
University of Sussex
Institute of Science and Technology Austria
R. K. Butlin
University of Sheffield
University of Gothenburg
K. Johannesson
University of Gothenburg
A. M. Westram
Nord University
Science advances
2375-2548 (eISSN)
Vol. 10 41 eadp2102Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Evolutionary Biology
Ecology
DOI
10.1126/sciadv.adp2102