Precipitation drives global variation in natural selection

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Siepielski, Adam M., Morrissey, Michael B., Buoro, Mathieu, Carlson, Stephanie M., Caruso, Christina M., Clegg, Sonya M., Coulson, Tim, Dibattista, Joseph, Gotanda, Kiyoko M., Francis, Clinton D., Hereford, Joe, Kingsolver, Joel G., Augustine, Kate E., Kruuk, Loeske E. B., Martin, Ryan A., Sheldon, Ben C., Sletvold, Nina, Svensson, Erik I., Wade, Michael J., Maccoll, Andrew D. C.
• Other Authors: Department of Biological Sciences, The Open University Milton Keynes (OU), School of Biology, IE University, Ecologie Comportementale et Biologie des Populations de Poissons (ECOBIOP), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA), Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Berkeley (ESPM), University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley), University of California (UC)-University of California (UC), Department of Integrative Biology Berkeley (IB), Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University Brisbane, Department of Zoology, Auburn University (AU), Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University Perth, Redpath Museum and Department of Biology, McGill University = Université McGill Montréal, Canada, Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis (UC Davis), Department of Biology, Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Research School of Biology, Australian National University (ANU), Department of Ecology and Genetics Uppsala (EBC), Uppsala University, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: natural selection; global change; sélection naturelle; précipitation; évolution des populations; changement climatique; variable environnementale; facteur environnemental; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01605014; https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aag2773

International audience Climate change has the potential to affect the ecology and evolution of every species on Earth. Although the ecological consequences of climate change are increasingly well documented, the effects of climate on the key evolutionary process driving adaptation—natural selection—are largely unknown.We report that aspects of precipitation and potential evapotranspiration, along with the North Atlantic Oscillation, predicted variation in selection across plant and animal populations throughout many terrestrial biomes, whereas temperature explained little variation. By showing that selection was influenced by climate variation, our results indicate that climate change may cause widespread alterations in selection regimes, potentially shifting evolutionary trajectories at a global scale