Does dynamic ecological change cause rapid evolution?

Abrupt environmental change has the potential to drive rapid evolution, which may facilitate species persistence in the face of novel challenges. But little is known about the evolutionary response of most natural populations to rapidly changing conditions. This project will use long-term genomic data to quantify rates of evolutionary change in species living in arid environments, whose populations fluctuate markedly in response to rainfall variation. By measuring the pace of genomic change in these species, and the evolutionary processes driving that change (selection, drift and gene flow), this project will reveal species’ evolutionary responses to major environmental
fluctuations.