Biological invasions, climate change and genomics

Abstract

The rate of biological invasions is expected to increase as the effects of climate change on biological communities become widespread. Climate change enhances habitat disturbance which facilitates the establishment of invasive species, which in turn provides opportunities for hybridization and introgression. These effects influence local biodiversity that can be tracked through genetic and genomic approaches. Metabarcoding and metagenomic approaches provide a way of monitoring some types of communities under climate change for the appearance of invasives. Introgression and hybridization can be followed by the analysis of entire genomes so that rapidly changing areas of the genome are identified and instances of genetic pollution monitored. Genomic markers enable accurate tracking of invasive species’ geographic origin well beyond what was previously possible. New genomic tools are promoting fresh insights into classic questions about invading organisms under climate change, such as the role of genetic variation, local adaptation and climate pre-adaptation in successful invasions. These tools are providing managers with often more effective means to identify potential threats, improve surveillance and assess impacts on communities. We provide a framework for the application of genomic techniques within a management context and also indicate some important limitations in what can be achieved.

RAD sequencing reveals genomewide divergence between independent invasions of the European green crab (Carcinus maenas) in the Northwest Atlantic

“…Ecological impacts of aquatic invaders range from large‐scale reductions in native biodiversity (Molnar, Gamboa, Revenga, & Spalding, 2008) to the local destruction of marine habitats such as eelgrass or shellfish beds (Garbary, Miller, Williams, & Seymour, 2014; Matheson et al., 2016; McClenachan, O'Connor, & Reynolds, 2015), which can include commercially important species (Floyd & Williams, 2004). In contrast to ecological impacts, evolutionary dynamics of marine invasions are less well studied including both the genomic basis for invasiveness (Lee, 2002) and evolutionary consequences of invasion (Chown et al., 2015; Cristescu, 2015). Increasingly, it is becoming apparent that cryptic diversity can contribute to variation in invasion success and ultimately to impacts on marine and freshwater ecosystems (e.g., Folino‐Rorem, Darling, & D'Ausilio, 2009; Lee, 1999; Sherman et al., 2016).…”

The ghost of introduction past: Spatial and temporal variability in the genetic diversity of invasive smallmouth bass

“…Furthermore, the presence of a temporal Wahlund effect within the HN range, likely due to the pooling of multiple populations, may too have decreased the accuracy of the ABC results. Although our results support the notion of multiple introductions, this should be interpreted with caution as several factors may be responsible for this pattern, including an unsampled source population, postinvasion genetic drift, insufficient marker resolution and admixture in the source population (Chown et al., 2015; Gray et al., 2014). Given that hatcheries make use of artificial selection techniques to enhance species production and abundance (e.g., Aprahamian, Smith, McGinnity, McKelvey, & Taylor, 2003; Lamaze et al., 2012), it is possible that the introduced M. dolomieu were of admixed or hybrid origin, as has been reported for stockings of S. fontinalis (Cooper, Miller, & Kapuscinski, 2010; Lamaze et al., 2012; Sloss, Jennings, Franckowiak, & Pratt, 2008).…”

“…Invasive species are particularly suitable for demographic analyses, as they frequently experience rapid alternations in levels of genetic diversity following introduction (Chown et al., 2015; Hui & Richardson, 2017; Lee, 2002; Rius & Darling, 2014; Roman & Darling, 2007). To this end, the assessment of genetic diversity has become essential for establishing the demographic and adaptive potential of populations in novel environments (Dlugosch, Anderson, Braasch, Cang, & Gillette, 2015; Prentis, Wilson, Dormontt, Richardson, & Lowe, 2008; Stapley, Santure, & Dennis, 2015; Zenni, Bailey, & Simberloff, 2014) and provides insight into the role that genetic variability plays in an organisms’ invasive success (Edelaar et al., 2015).…”

“…To this end, the assessment of genetic diversity has become essential for establishing the demographic and adaptive potential of populations in novel environments (Dlugosch, Anderson, Braasch, Cang, & Gillette, 2015; Prentis, Wilson, Dormontt, Richardson, & Lowe, 2008; Stapley, Santure, & Dennis, 2015; Zenni, Bailey, & Simberloff, 2014) and provides insight into the role that genetic variability plays in an organisms’ invasive success (Edelaar et al., 2015). Ultimately, this information allows predictions to be made on population viability, aiding in the development of an appropriate, species‐specific management strategy (Chown et al., 2015; Meyer et al., 2017; Prentis et al., 2008). …”

Do relaxed selection and habitat temperature facilitate biased mitogenomic introgression in a narrowly endemic fish?

“…These possibilities could be explored using field studies of survivorship and observations of breeding in different springs in Cuatro Ciénegas (Fitzpatrick and Shaffer 2004; Chunco 2014; Chown et al. 2015). Additionally, future studies could examine heat‐shock proteins or other genes involved in metabolism that reside in the nuclear genome to determine whether the introgression of these temperature‐related genes follows patterns similar to the introgression observed here for the mitogenome (Burton et al.…”