Abstract
During the last three decades, the Arctic ice cap has reduced in area by 20%, opening up coastal marine habitats in the Arctic to a rapidly growing extent. Major effects on marine biodiversity are to be expected in the very near future. A large-scale interchange of marine flora and fauna across the Arctic took place between the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans following the opening of the Bering Strait 4 to 7 million years ago. It is imperative to accelerate our efforts towards understanding the historical trans-Arctic biotic interchange in order to predict effects of its modern-day equivalent and to test these predictions over the coming decades. This project addresses this question from two angles, asking, first, what made some taxa successful trans-Arctic colonizers and others not, and second, how did trans-Arctic migration affect evolutionary adaptations? This interdisciplinary project will study ecologically relevant genetic variation by combining controlled experimental work with analysis at both the DNA (AFLP) and RNA (cDNA-AFLP) levels. As study taxon the bivalve genus Macoma is chosen because of its ecological significance as an important secondary producer and intermediate position in the food web, its excellent fossil record, the extensive earlier experience with it in ecological experiments, including laboratory rearing, and the fact that it is relatively undisturbed by human activities. Key words: trans-Arctic migration, global climate change, ecological genomics, adaptive plasticity, population differentiation.
Netherlands