The Arctic is one of the regions where climate change will become most pronounced. When forecasting the effects of climate change on biodiversity, it is necessary to consider the possibility that species can adapt through evolution to the altered environment. We test the overarching hypothesis that the fish species Arctic charr and three-spine stickleback in Western Greenland can invoke adaptive responses to ongoing climate change. The project makes use of state-of-the-art methods for genome-wide scans for detecting footprints of selection in space and time, the latter accomplished by analyzing DNA from up to 80 year old archived Arctic charr samples. Finally, we also analyze temperature-related phenotypic plasticity in early life-history traits of Arctic charr.

Site: Kobbefjord and Godthåbsfjorden, Nuuk, Greenland

PI: Michael Møller Hansen

Fieldwork summary / photo blog

Link to ARC photo blog