Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Affects of Climate change on pine forests

     Climate and Genetics are not two things that are usually considered to be connected. However when it comes to Pine forests researchers have been investigating the impact that climate change may have on these forest through genetics. Typically computer models are used to predict which areas will sustain pine forests, the problem with this is that genetics and evolution are not taken into account when using these computer models. Genetics should favor trees with genes that allow them to withstand higher temperatures.

     The goal in this study was to identify genetic factors that could be incorporated into the future predictions. The researchers made a list of more then 300 variants in 200 candidate genes that affect the species' fitness in different climate conditions. This list was then sifted through to find genes more common in regions that had similar climates in hope that natural selection would be the reason why these genes were more prevalent in these areas. In total 18 variants had correlations with local climates; growth and response to heat stress happened to be influenced by genes that were affected. These variants were tested to see if they were important in the fitness of these trees. The results were that they indeed did prove to be beneficial in the survival rate of these trees in local climates of Spain.

     This research proves valuable to the future of forests, not only pine forests. A difference may be able to be made in protecting forests from climate change in the future. Further studies will have to be done with different species of trees, as all forests are not the same and may respond differently to fluctuations in climate. This study opens doors for further genetics research in the ongoing fight against climate change.

Article: Genetic data can help predict how pine forests will cope with climate change
Other Sources: Genetics and Trees


    

2 comments:

  1. This is a step in the right direction, but how exactly will scientists use this data to help keep forests alive? I fear the environment is getting destroyed faster than the organisms have time to adapt and that is a huge part of the problem. Unless scientists can somehow get these trees to adapt faster, I don't really see how this data is beneficial yet.

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