Phylogeography and adaptation to environmental gradients in sugar maple

当前全球变化导致的气候条件快速变化对地球的生物多样性及其提供的生态系统服务构成严重威胁。在目前观察到的突然气候变化的情况下，物种需要适应新的环境，或者迁移到有利的栖息地。在此，我提出了一项全面的研究，以调查糖槭树的基因组适应驱动的环境因素，糖槭树是一种广泛分布在北美东部的物种复合体。***由于一些历史人口统计学过程可以模拟自然选择模式并使适应性遗传变异的检测复杂化，我们将首先研究不同枫树物种之间的系统发育关系，并对黑枫树和糖枫树这两种分布广泛重叠且已知自然杂交的物种或生态型进行比较系统地理学研究。最后，基于这些初步研究的结果，我们将使用景观基因组学方法来联系糖枫分布范围内的环境和遗传变异，并了解其适应性遗传变异及其对全球气候变化的响应。***这将是第一次大规模研究糖枫在气候驱动下的基因组适应，糖枫是美国东北部温带阔叶落叶林中的优势树种，在加拿大东部具有重要的社会经济价值。因此，了解枫树适应气候变化的能力对于指导重新造林种子的选择以及最大限度地发挥枫树林在全球变暖背景下的适应潜力和恢复能力至关重要。最后，这项研究项目将有助于培养许多高素质的人员，以掌握基因组学的最新方法。这对于发展加拿大在生物、环境和医学，包括生物技术和制药工业领域的领先地位至关重要。

The fast changing climatic conditions due to current global change pose a serious threat to the planet's biodiversity and to the ecosystem services it provides. In case of abrupt climate change as currently observed, species need either to adapt to their new conditions, or migrate into favorable habitats. Here I propose a comprehensive study to investigate the genomic adaptations driven by environmental factors in sugar maples, a species complex with a wide distribution in eastern North-America.***Since several historical demographic processes can mimic natural selection patterns and complexify the detection of adaptive genetic variation, we will first investigate the phylogenetic relationships among various maple species, and conduct a comparative phylogeographic study of the black and sugar maples, two species or ecotypes with a widely overlapping distribution and known to hybridize naturally. Finally, based on the results of these preliminary studies, we will use a landscape genomics approach to relate environmental and genetic variation across the distribution range of the sugar maple, and to understand its adaptive genetic variation and its response to global climate change.***It will be the first large scale study to investigate the genomic adaptations driven by climate in sugar maple, a dominant tree of temperate broad-leaf deciduous forests of north-eastern America with an important socio-economic value in eastern Canada. Understanding the capacity of maples to adapt to changing climatic condition is thus critical to guide the choice of seeds for reforestation and maximize the adaptive potential and resilience of maple forests in the face of global warming. Finally, this research project will contribute to the training of numerous highly qualified personnels to the state of the art methodologies in genomics. This is critical for the development of Canada's leading position in the fields of Biological, Environmental and Medical Sciences, including biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.