Environmental gradients influence eco-evolutionary dynamics of seaweeds and their resilience to climate change

Abstract

Seaweeds are characterized by a global pattern of latitudinal diversity in which species richness increases from the tropics to the poles. Across this latitudinal gradient, the abundance, growth, and reproduction of many species are highly variable in time, with strong seasonal changes that are influenced by water temperature, nutrient availability and day length, particularly in temperate regions. The different regimes of environmental conditions experienced from the tropics to poles, influence local adaptation and differential capacities of species and populations to cope with environmental stress and climate change. These factors are of paramount importance as anthropogenic pressures, increasing ocean temperatures and extreme events, have threatened the ecological integrity of several seaweed species, contributing to significant range shifts and local extinctions of their natural populations. Tropical and polar seaweeds are predicted to be particularly sensitive to the effects of climate change because they are considered more narrowly endemic in both geographic and climatic space. Additionally, their thermal limits are near to the current maximum temperature they experience, posing some important constraints in the face of warming oceans. In contrast, temperate seaweeds are expected to be more resilient/tolerant to these changes due to their greater physiological plasticity that results from the broader range of seasonal temperatures that they experience compared to tropical or polar species. In this presentation, through the integration of comparative physiology, transcriptomics and metagenomics, I will provide evidences regarding the role of latitudinal gradients shaping different ecological and evolutionary responses of seaweeds around the globe.