Range-wide climate risk and adaptive potential in a cold-water fish species (Part 1/2)

Predicting extinction risk from climate change requires understanding
adaptive variation and local adaptation across species’ ranges. We combine
experimental and -omics approaches with climate change modeling to
identify molecular mechanisms of local adaptation to heat stress in brook
trout, a coldwater species experiencing extirpations due to warming
temperatures. We identify genomic variation corresponding with thermal
conditions across the native range, suggesting local adaptation, and
experimentally identify variants linked with gene expression responses to
thermal stress. Using climate projections, we find that southern brook
trout populations are the most vulnerable to extirpation from climate
warming and mid-range populations are the most promising candidates for
receiving assisted gene flow to improve climate resilience. Together, this
work highlights the importance of genomic information in managing
populations threatened by climate change. This is Part 1 of the full
dataset, containing the RADseq dataset.