A2 Review article, Literature review, Systematic review
Adaptation to environmental stress at different timescales (2020)


Kristensen, T. N., Ketola, T., & Kronholm, I. (2020). Adaptation to environmental stress at different timescales. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1476(1), 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13974


JYU authors or editors


Publication details

All authors or editorsKristensen, Torsten Nygaard; Ketola, Tarmo; Kronholm, Ilkka

Journal or seriesAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences

ISSN0077-8923

eISSN1749-6632

Publication year2020

Volume1476

Issue number1

Pages range5-22

PublisherWiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.

Publication countryUnited States

Publication languageEnglish

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13974

Publication open accessNot open

Publication channel open access


Abstract

Environments are changing rapidly, and to cope with these changes, organisms have to adapt. Adaptation can take many shapes and occur at different speeds, depending on the type of response, the trait, the population, and the environmental conditions. The biodiversity crisis that we are currently facing illustrates that numerous species and populations are not capable of adapting with sufficient speed to ongoing environmental changes. Here, we discuss current knowledge on the ability of animals and plants to adapt to environmental stress on different timescales, mainly focusing on thermal stress and ectotherms. We discuss within‐generation responses that can be fast and induced within minutes or hours, evolutionary adaptations that are often slow and take several generations, and mechanisms that lay somewhere in between and that include epigenetic transgenerational effects. To understand and predict the impacts of environmental change and stress on biodiversity, we suggest that future studies should (1) have an increased focus on understanding the type and speed of responses to fast environmental changes; (2) focus on the importance of environmental fluctuations and the predictability of environmental conditions on adaptive capabilities, preferably in field studies encompassing several fitness components; and (3) look at ecosystem responses to environmental stress and their resilience when disturbed.


Keywordsadaptation (change)environmental changesevolutionepigeneticsplasticity

Free keywordstrangenerational effects; environmental stress


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Ministry reportingYes

Reporting Year2020

JUFO rating1


Last updated on 2024-14-02 at 15:26