Experimental evolution of plankton under a complex global change scenario

What is it about?

Global climate change is causing shifts in multiple environmental conditions. It is important to understand how species will evolve in response to these complex changes. We evolved marine plankton under warming, acidification, and combined warming and acidification to understand how adaptation proceeds when multiple conditions change.

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Why is it important?

These results showed that the multiple-stressor response to selection was synergistic and unique from either single stressor. Thus, adaptation to single stressors may not reveal adaptive potential or mechanisms of adaptation under multiple stressors, demonstrating the complexity of predicting adaptive responses under multifaceted environmental change.