Climate change and population genetic structure of marine species

Abstract

Climate change influences populations by reducing or extirpating local populations, by disrupting patterns of migration and by shifting geographical distributions. These events can affect genetic population structure in several ways. Molecular markers have been used in numerous population genetic and phylogeographical studies of marine species and have detected population responses to climate change in the last few decades, such as range expansions, adaptative shifts and declines or increases in abundance. Little is known, however, about the molecular and physiological basis of adaptive responses to climate change in marine Mediterranean species. The Mediterranean Sea ecosystem is a ‘living laboratory’ with native species that are challenged by environmental change and by invasive species and a ‘gene-climate’ approach should be adopted as a way of focusing on the relationship between climate warming and genetic diversity.