Environmental Change and Biological Adaptation in the Ocean Workshop, May 7-9, 2010

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Intellectual Merit How marine biology will react to ongoing global change-driven chemical and physical alterations in the marine environment is presently uncertain. It is clear, though, that biological evolution (adaptation) as well as other processes such as phenotypic plasticity and epigenetics are potential responses to global change. These processes are not well understood in marine systems, but could be crucial because they can prevent extirpation or local extinction of marine biota. The role of adaptation in rapidly changing marine ecosystems thus urgently needs consideration. However, most oceanographers are not experts in evolutionary biology and theory, and vice versa. To address this question and begin to bridge this disciplinary gap, the investigators convened an NSF-supported catalytic workshop in October 2009. At this workshop 15 invited experts in marine science and/or evolutionary biology identified a set of discussion priorities to be addressed at a subsequent larger, interdisciplinary community forum. These included: Can evolutionary theory help predict how marine organisms will react to global change? What are the critical rates of environmental change for different taxa and different environments? What are the limits to phenotypic plasticity and what is its relationship to long-term evolution? How do the many complex, co-occurring environmental factors that will typify climate change in the oceans interact to determine fitness? How can we interpret marine genomes in light of evolutionary theories with regard to climate change? Can we use evolutionary theory to predict consequences for complex, dynamic systems? Does evolution contribute to buffering ecosystem responses to environmental changes? At the invitation of the Biological Oceanography Program the investigators will convene an NSF-supported workshop of about 50 invited participants, to be held at the USC Wrigley Institute conference facility on Catalina Island in May of 2010 that will address these open questions. The intention is to build upon and extend the productive discussions from the catalytic workshop in a larger and more diverse group. This workshop will examine the current concerns of the ocean science community about impacts of global change on marine biology, and try for the first time to craft recommendations about how we could begin to incorporate basic principles of evolutionary biology into our understanding of these processes. The coPIs on the core steering committee, the original larger catalytic committee, and many new invited workshop participants will consist of experts in ocean global change biogeochemistry and biology, organismal physiology, and also recognized authorities in evolutionary biology. Ways to address these almost untouched questions will also be explored, ranging from modern genomics and proteomics approaches to laboratory and field experimentation and observation and quantitative biological and biogeochemical modeling. Broader Impacts The steering committee is committed to fostering diversity in science and will actively seek participation by early career scientists, female investigators, and members of underrepresented groups. Graduate and undergraduate education will be furthered by encouraging our students to attend the plenary sessions, which will also be open to the public. Dissemination of our discussion findings to the scientific community will be accomplished through the workshop report, through oral presentations to NSF program managers and at scientific meeting venues, and a planned summary article in a high impact peer-reviewed journal. Both scientific and public outreach will be targeted on the workshop website by posting plenary talk outlines and slides, our final report, and a general audience summary online.