Does dynamic ecological change cause rapid evolution?

该项目旨在增加对澳大利亚本土生物群如何应对快速环境变化的了解。环境的突然变化有可能推动快速进化，这可能有助于物种在面对新挑战时的持久性。该项目将使用长期基因组数据来量化生活在干旱环境中的物种的进化变化率，这些物种的种群会因降雨量的变化而显著波动。通过测量这些物种基因组变化的速度，以及驱动这种变化的进化过程，该项目将揭示物种对主要环境波动的进化反应。

This project aims to increase understanding of how Australia’s native biota responds to rapid environmental changes. Abrupt environmental change has the potential to drive rapid evolution, which may facilitate species persistence in the face of novel challenges. This project will use long-term genomic data to quantify rates of evolutionary change in species living in arid environments, whose populations fluctuate markedly in response to rainfall variation. By measuring the pace of genomic change in these species, and the evolutionary processes driving that change, this project will reveal species’ evolutionary responses to major environmental fluctuations.