Surviving in a warmer world: environmental and genetic responses

Abstract

There are numerous reports in the literature of advancing trends in phenophases of plants, insects and birds attributed to rising temperature resulting from human-driven climate warming. One mechanism that enables a population to respond rapidly to changes in the environ- ment is termed phenotypic plasticity. This plasticity grants a degree of flexibility to enable the tim- ing of developmental stages to coincide with resource availability. If, however, environmental con- ditions exceed the plastic limits of an organism, evolutionary change may be necessary in order to ensure continued survival of their populations. We review evidence for phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation in phenological characteristics associated with climatic warming. We focus this review on examples from trees, insects and birds. We found many reports of direct observations of phenotypic plasticity but fewer studies providing conclusive evidence of genetic adaptation. Evi- dence for changes in genes linked with adaptive traits associated with a warming climate was stronger in insects, that have a relatively short life-cycle, than in longer-lived birds and trees. Fur- ther research is required to identify both appropriate long-term data sets for a range of species and traits and suitable analytical methods, which will permit the study of the complex interaction between phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation of organisms and their populations in response to climatic change.