An evo-devo approach to invasive biology and adaption to climate change

The Evo-Devo Approach

Predicting how species will fare with climate change and understanding invasive biology to aid remediation and are themes intrinsically coupled to evolutionary and developmental processes. In order to predict adaptation potential or 'evolvability' the genetic control of a trait, which is developmentally programmed, and its natural variation within and between closely related species must be understood [1,2].

By studying evolutionary and developmental biology together, and comparing results between closely related species, the evo-devo field provides rich examples of generating such understanding. Access to new methods previously constrained to 'model' systems, that the evo-devo field is now pioneering in 'non-model' groups, holds great promise for environmental research.

Crepidula fornicata is invasive to the UK, it is damaging fisheries, habitats and biodiversity and is predicted to have a poleward shift in distribution, into Scottish waters, with oceanic warming. It is also a marine calcifier inhabiting coastal regions vulnerable to climatic changes such as warming and ocean acidification (OA). Recent OA experiments have shown C. fornicata are surprisingly resilient to severely acidified conditions.

These findings, in combination with the history of embryological study in this species, makes it an ideal system to probe questions of resilience and adaptation to climate change.

This project will take the powerful evo-devo approach and apply it to questions of major environmental significance. It will compare shell development in C. fornicata to three closely related species within the genus Crepidula to address the following questions:

1.) What developmental mechanisms make C. fornicata invasive compared to its most closely related non-invasive relatives?

2.) What developmental mechanisms regulate the shell traits (strength, microstructures and thickness) that give C. fornicata superior resilience to ocean acidification and climate change compared to its most closely related relatives?