Journal article
Marine Heatwave Drives Cryptic Loss of Genetic Diversity in Underwater Forests
Current Biology, Vol.30(7), pp.1199-1206
06/04/2020
PMID: 32109397
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Abstract
Extreme events have profound ecological impacts on species and ecosystems, including range contractions and collapse of entire ecosystems. Although theory predicts that extreme events cause loss of genetic diversity, empirical demonstrations are rare, obscuring implications for future adaptive capacity of species and populations. Here, we use rare genetic data from before an extreme event to empirically demonstrate massive and cryptic loss of genetic diversity across ∼800 km of underwater forests following the most severe marine heatwave on record. Two forest-forming seaweeds (Sargassum fallax and Scytothalia dorycarpa) lost ∼30%–65% of average genetic diversity within the 800-km footprint of the heatwave and up to 100% of diversity at some sites. Populations became dominated by single haplotypes that were often not dominant or present prior to the heatwave. Strikingly, these impacts were cryptic and not reflected in measures of forest cover used to determine ecological impact of the heatwave. Our results show that marine heatwaves can drive strong loss of genetic diversity, which may compromise adaptability to future climatic change.
Details
- Title
- Marine Heatwave Drives Cryptic Loss of Genetic Diversity in Underwater Forests
- Creators
- Carlos Frederico Deluqui Gurgel - Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Botânica, Laboratório de Ficologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina 99040-900, BrazilOlga Camacho - Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Botânica, Laboratório de Ficologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina 99040-900, BrazilAntoine J.P Minne - Oceans Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, AustraliaThomas Wernberg - Oceans Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, AustraliaMelinda A Coleman - Oceans Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
- Publication Details
- Current Biology, Vol.30(7), pp.1199-1206
- Publisher
- Cell Press
- Grant note
- Funding was provided by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq (Brazil) PQ2-309658/2016-0 to C.F.D.G., CAPES/PNPD 2017-8 fellowship to O.C., and Australian Research Council grants DP0555929 and FT110100174 to T.W. and DP160100114 and DP190100058 to T.W. and M.A.C.
- Identifiers
- 991012925092502368
- Copyright
- © 2020 Elsevier Ltd.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; School of Environment, Science and Engineering; Science; National Marine Science Centre
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article