title: Evolution of a genetic polymorphism with climate change in a Mediterranean landscape.
abstract: Many species show changes in distribution and phenotypic trait variation in response to climatic warming. Evidence of genetically based trait responses to climate change is, however, less common. Here, we detected evolutionary variation in the landscape-scale distribution of a genetically based chemical polymorphism in Mediterranean wild thyme (Thymus vulgaris) in association with modified extreme winter freezing events. By comparing current data on morph distribution with that observed in the early 1970s, we detected a significant increase in the proportion of morphs that are sensitive to winter freezing. This increase in frequency was observed in 17 of the 24 populations in which, since the 1970s, annual extreme winter freezing temperatures have risen above the thresholds that cause mortality of freezing-sensitive morphs. Our results provide an original example of rapid ongoing evolutionary change associated with relaxed selection (less extreme freezing events) on a local landscape scale. In species whose distribution and genetic variability are shaped by strong selection gradients, there may be little time lag associated with their ecological and evolutionary response to long-term environmental change.
authors: Unité Mixte de Recherche 5175, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. john.thompson@cefe.cnrs.fr
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Thompson
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Charpentier
authors: Guillaume
authors: G
authors: Bouguet
authors: Faustine
authors: F
authors: Charmasson
authors: Stephanie
authors: S
authors: Roset
authors: Bruno
authors: B
authors: Buatois
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Vernet
authors: Pierre-Henri
authors: PH
authors: Gouyon
mesh_terms: D057231:Climate Change; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D046930:Thymus Plant / Q000235:genetics
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