Animals Survive Climate Change
Hybrid of Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) on pipes, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Credit: Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
Every middle-school student learns the dogma: a species is defined as a group of organisms that interbreed and produce fertile young. When individual plants and animals can’t, we call them different species. Sometimes it’s a little confusing to imagine exactly how that might work between Great Danes and Chihuahuas, which are both
, but for the most part it’s a comforting way to make sense of the biological diversity around us. Except that it’s wrong.
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Older genetic sequencing techniques meant that until recently, scientists could examine only a small percentage of an organism’s DNA, providing us a reasonable proxy for the heritage of the organism as a whole—whether the creature came from an interbreeding event, for instance. We used these DNA snippets to infer how two creatures were related. But now, with the ability to sequence entire genomes quickly and accurately, we can examine most of the millions of pieces of DNA contained in every living thing. And we are discovering that “species” aren’t so clear-cut.
Hybrids, or organisms that contain DNA from more than one species, were supposed to be the unlucky reproductive dead ends of parents from different species that lacked some Darwinian common sense; instead, new genomic data give us rampant evidence that species, even ones that aren’t very closely related, have been swapping genes in an act of evolutionary defiance that isn’t so vanishingly rare.
And as a parade of droughts, floods and heat waves replaces the relative ecological stability on which many species depend, these hybrid species may be better equipped to handle climate change than the parent species from which they came.
Plants, Animals Adapt To Climate Change
Typically, each species has to evolve its own beneficial genes, a laborious process of small mutations that can be hit or miss when it comes to conferring a benefit. This process takes many generations. But when different species hybridize, beneficial genes that have evolved in one species can, through mating with the hybrid, migrate to the other species in the blink of an evolutionary eye. This shuffle of DNA, when beneficial, could confer serious benefits, like disease resistance or adaptations to new environments.
Hybridization gives species a way to quickly swap their best genes as if they were like trading cards. Rather than being detrimental, liaisons between two species serve as a mechanism for rapid genetic upgrades and might set up advantageous events for many kinds of animals and plants. So, while many or even most individual interspecific hybrids might not always be reproductively successful, genomics clearly indicates hybrids are sometimes, or even frequently, able to find a partner and reproduce, eventually blending their novel combination of genes with one of the parent lineages.
Is a great example of this. Scientists have long thought that when humans and Neandertals were on the planet at the same time, interbreeding snagged for our species important survival genes that Neandertals had honed over millennia of living in Eurasia. These could include adaptations for an improved immune response and better UV absorption—helpful as we migrated out of sunny Africa, encountered new pathogens, and had to adjust to dark and cold Eurasian climates. Thanks to genomic technology, we know that between 2 percent and 4 percent of most Eurasian people’s DNA is directly traced to Neandertals, and the genomes of most of us are equipped with a package of non–
It Remains Unclear Which Mammals Can Survive Climate Change • Earth.com
Rather than just tolerating such hybrid flexibility, evolution conceivably could be driving it;those species that are able to reap the benefits of hybridization and skip ahead in the race to adapt have a better chance at long-term survival, and they may cope better with the new environments and the intensifying instability they now face.
The recent news of a climate bill in Washington which will significantly reduce U.S. carbon emissions over the coming decades is a small step in the right direction, though it hasn’t come in time for many of the species threatened by climate change. Indeed, last fall the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared another 23 species of plant and animal extinct. These lists will grow longer as the weather becomes more erratic. Climate change has gone from an abstract prediction to a hard-hitting, intensifying, global catastrophe whose effects on biodiversity are dire.
Those species that hybridize may be those most likely to weather the storm we’ve created, if we leave enough wildlands intact for species to persist and come into contact with each other in the first place. Rampant habitat destruction may have already sealed the fate of far too many species, and hybridization isn’t magic; the beneficial genes have to exist in the first place and be successfully transferred between the species. It is a pathway to survival, not a guarantee. Unfortunately, most species won’t have the time or opportunity to benefit from hybridization given the pace of climate change and development. But it isn’t a lost cause; anything we can do to slow climate change and preserve natural areas will give biodiversity a chance to adapt. Our actions will continue to cause extinctions across the tree of life, but hopefully an old, previously unrecognized, habit of exchanging genes will provide an unexpected way for some species to dodge extinction.Twitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting. Twitter LinkedIn icon The word in. LinkedIn Fliboard icon A stylized letter F. Flipboard Facebook Icon The letter F. Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email. Email Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url. Copy Link
Here's How Some Species Will Survive Climate Change
Scientists believe the earth is entering a mass extinction — the sixth one in the planet's history— andhuman-caused climate change is soon to be the number one killer of organisms on planet Earth.
With shrinking polar ice caps, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events all predicted for a world in which global warming is allowed to proceed unchecked, it's a grim time indeed for life on the third rock from the sun.
These organisms actually show signs of adapting to climate change, and some are even experiencing benefits like range expansion and increased population — meaning while everyone else is going extinct, these are the guys who will still be thriving.
What Helps Animals Adapt (or Not) To Climate Change?
In a recent study, scientists moved a population of anoles from a cooler environment to a warmer one to simulate rapid climate change. They found that anoles who moved faster and were more active during the day were better at snatching up food and out-competing their rivals, giving them a higher chance of surviving.
Anoles reproduce fast enough that scientists think the hardiest ones could have a shot at passing on these superior genetic qualities and raising up a population better adapted to the heat — one that might make it in a warming world.
In a study published earlier this year, scientists found that long-tailed tits were much likelier to survive another year if they experience a warm, dry breeding season. Raising chicks in cold, wet weather can be hard on the little birds, upping their chances of dying before the next breeding season. As global temperatures rise, the birds may see experience warmer springs and longer lives as a result.
How Does Climate Change Affect Plants And Animals?
A study published last year suggested that climate change could enable Asian tiger mosquitoes to significantly expand their North American range. An invasive species originally introduced from Southeast Asia, the insect has already spread throughout the southern half of the United States.
Asian tiger mosquitos are vectors for a number of nasty diseases, including West Nile virus and Dengue fever, making them a significant public health concern. At the very least, its continued expansion could mean much itchier summers are coming soon for northern residents.
Zebrafish who incubate and hatch in warmer waters could be better at adapting to extreme temperatures, according to a study published two years ago in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scientists observed differences in the warm-water fish's muscle composition and gene expression that made them superior swimmers, better able to handle temperature variations in the water.
Animals Affected By Climate Change
The researchers don't know how high water temperature could get before it starts to harm the fish, rather than help them — but their findings suggest zebrafish may have an edge in the warming waters caused by global climate change.
The pine beetle is known for wreaking havoc on forests — and its job may be getting easier as global temperatures rise. Beetle populations are growing and spreading and some scientists believe climate change is to thank. This is good news for the beetle, but bad news for the trees they call home. Beetle infestations can kill off huge clusters of trees, as shown in the photo to the right: All those brown patches are caused by beetles.
A study published in Scienceshowed that the brown argus butterfly was able to expand its range by nearly 50 miles in just 20 years — a tremendous jump for the once-rare insect. Historically, brown argus butterflies have preferred to lay their eggs on just one plant, the rockrose.
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