Collaborative Research: Understanding the eco-evolutionary mechanisms underlying colonization potential in a tropical seagrass species

Rates of temperature change in oceans have become increasingly rapid in the last few decades and may exceed the current and future abilities of many organisms to adapt. This has particularly drastic consequences for habitat-creating 'foundation species' like seagrasses that form the basis of many of the planet's most productive and diverse ecosystems. Foundation species provide numerous beneficial functions and services including environmental stress amelioration, aggregation of food supply, provision of structure and habitat that supports biodiverse and stable communities. Increasing ocean temperatures will affect the physiological performance of these critical ecosystem engineers and alter population structure and dynamics. We hypothesize that climate change will shift patterns of foundation species' distribution, coexistence, gene expression, and genetic structure. Our overarching objective is to understand and predict how shifts in temperature and light availability (i.e., UV stress) will affect the expansion of a tropical seagrass species into higher latitudes and the persistence of a temperate species at lower latitudes. This study will utilize an eco-evolutionary approach to test how climate-related stressors affect intra- and interspecific facilitation between seagrass species and determine potential mechanisms for restoration and climate resistance.

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