Eco-Evolutionary Genomic Observation for Local and Global Environmental Changes

Abstract

Local and global environmental changes produce shifts in species distribution as well as adaptive evolution in wild species. Recent advances in genomic analysis tools, such as the next-generation DNA sequencing technique, have allowed genetic observation of ecological and evolutionary responses to the environmental changes. In this review, we propose three approaches for ‘eco-evolutionary genomic observation’ to assess and predict the effect of environmental changes on biodiversity. First, paleo-ecogenomics, the genomic and metagenomic analyses of ancient pollen grains or sediments, can be employed to identify long-term evolutionary changes, thereby facilitating the reconstruction of ancient biological communities and interactions. Second, chronological genomics, which uses museum or herbarium specimen samples to study population genomics, can be used to elucidate short-term evolutionary changes and detect the adaptive genes favored by natural or human-induced selection. Third, ecological genome niche modeling, based on the distribution data of adaptive variants detected by genome-wide scans and the geographic patterns of various environmental factors, will be useful for prediction of evolutionary responses to future environmental changes. These new approaches provide a point of view for observation of evolution caused by environmental changes in chronological order.KeywordsAdaptive evolutionChronological genomicsEco-evolutionary genomicsEcological genome niche modelingEvolutionary responsesGenetic differentiation and diversityLocal and global environmental changesPaleo-ecogenomicsSpecies distribution