Climate change problematic It has devastating effects on many factors that determine life on Earth, including the genetic diversity of species. We are well aware that global temperatures are rising due to increased greenhouse gas emissions from industry and transportation.
Said increase in the temperature of the planet has certain risks in the variables that condition the different ecosystems of our planet. Variables such as temperature, the acidity of the lakes, the scarcity of fresh water and the fragmentation of habitats are what they decrease biodiversity.
How genetic diversity affects adaptation to climate change
In natural and anthropized ecosystems, all the mechanisms that make elements work well are interrelated. Broadly speaking, all that makes ecosystems function as we know them today are the chains and relationships between living beings and inert beings.
To be able to adapt to the devastating and negative effects of climate change requires a great deal of genetic diversity that allows mutations to be generated in DNA to be able to withstand and survive changes in the environment. As the populations of certain animal and plant species decline, they become more vulnerable to environmental conditions. For example, plant species that require low temperatures tend to shift their range to higher altitudes as temperatures in lower areas increase due to climate change. Furthermore, in this context, understanding the role of the gene is fundamental.
Therefore, both animal and plant species are more resistant and have an easier time adapting to climate change as greater population and genetic diversity have.
What about marmots in the Pyrenees?
In Spain, in the Pyrenees, live communities of marmots from the French Alps. These were reintroduced between 1948 and 1988 because they became extinct from the Pyrenees for more than 15.000 years.
A recent study shows that the genetic diversity of these marmots is quite low, so, as I mentioned before, it will face great difficulties and will be a very vulnerable species to the effects of climate change. Spain is already a country that, due to its climate, economy, and geographical location, is very vulnerable to climate change.
The study was carried out by researchers from the Center for Ecological Research and Forest Applications (CREAF-UAB) and the Laboratoire de Biométrie de Biologie Evolutive (LBBE) in Lyon (France). For this they have analyzed the DNA of the Pyrenean marmots through their hair.
When the reintroduction of this species was carried out in the Pyrenees, about 400 specimens were reintroduced that came from the French Alps. Despite the lack of planning and follow-up (since some of them did not know exactly where they came from), the reintroduction of the Alpine marmot in the Pyrenees it was a success because it quickly established and colonized almost the entire southern face of this mountain range.
Origin and consequences of low genetic diversity
Reintroduced populations have very little genetic diversity. This is a very important aspect in adapting to climate change and the new scenarios it presents. Typically, more than a third of reintroductions fail due to the lack of previous studies, to an inadequate subsequent follow-up or to a low genetic diversity.
But why is their genetic diversity low? Well, like the populations of the Pyrenees have not exchanged genetic material, Each population in the Pyrenees still closely resembles its original population in the Alps. The only question that remains is whether time will be able to help the marmot adapt to climate change or whether this will be yet another failed reintroduction. Our only hope is to reduce and slow the effects of climate change so that marmots and other endangered species have more time to adapt to the new scenarios that climate change will create.
