DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Evolutionary Responses of Daphnia to Climate Change in Vernal Ponds

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Understanding the impacts of climate change is one of the most important challenges humans face today. How species will respond to these changes in their environment is a crucial piece of that understanding. Species have four main ways to deal with climate change: extinction, range shifts, behavioral or non-genetic changes, and evolution. Using an existing experiment which simulates different climate change scenarios in temporary ponds, the PIs will subsample experimental ponds for the water flea Daphnia pulex. These Daphnia will be raised in a controlled environment and various traits will be measured to learn if they have undergone evolutionary change or if the responses reflect a plastic (non-genetic) response. The results will provide data that will help in understanding how species are confronting a rapidly changing world. The study will address whether, in the face of climate change, populations will adapt through evolution to novel environments, or respond through non-genetic adjustments within their ranges of physiological tolerance. This grant will be used to train and mentor high school students and college undergraduates in both the field and the laboratory. Students will gain not only practical field and laboratory skills, but also exposure to a variety of scientific disciplines including ecology, evolution, mathematics, and computer science. The work will provide insight into how species are meeting a rapidly changing world and will help to train the next generation of scientists who must confront these global challenges.