Genetic Diversity Impacts Climate‐Induced Species Range Shifts

Climate change threatens biodiversity when species cannot tolerate, adapt to, or track shifting environmental conditions to stay within their climatic niches. A major unresolved question is whether and how species' genetic diversity modulates these dynamics, buffering against range contractions or facilitating range expansions. To test this, we integrated the largest global databases of species range shifts and genetic diversity, encompassing 4673 range shift estimates for 1888 species with available genetic data, including insects, arachnids, birds, fish, and plants. We found that range shifting rates were significantly shaped by the interaction of genetic diversity and climate change velocity. Under rapid warming, species with higher genetic diversity exhibited reduced trailing edge contractions, likely reflecting enhanced evolutionary potential or reduced vulnerability to drift. Under moderate warming, species with higher genetic diversity shifted more rapidly at leading edges and range centroids, consistent with greater colonisation ability. Our study provides evidence that genetic diversity potentially enables persistence at the trailing edge and colonisation at the leading edge, with the magnitude of these effects varying depending on the velocity of climate change.

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Publication Details

Journal
Ecology Letters
Published
2026-03-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.70345
Primary Topic
Species Distribution and Climate Change
Type
article
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article

Genetic Diversity Impacts Climate‐Induced Species Range Shifts

Sarah R. Weiskopf, Lesley T. Lancaster, Brunno F. Oliveira, Laura M. Thompson et al.
Ecology Letters
Species Distribution and Climate Change
article

Genetic Diversity Impacts Climate‐Induced Species Range Shifts

Sarah R. Weiskopf, Lesley T. Lancaster, Brunno F. Oliveira, Laura M. Thompson, Barrett Wolfe, Nikki A. Moore, Jonathan Rolland, Jake Lawlor, Jérôme Murienne, Malin L. Pinsky, Lise Comte, Gaël Grenouillet, Brett R. Scheffers, Fabricio Villalobos, Romain Bertrand, Sarah Diamond, R. M. W. J. Bandara, Jonathan Lenoir
article en

Abstract

Climate change threatens biodiversity when species cannot tolerate, adapt to, or track shifting environmental conditions to stay within their climatic niches. A major unresolved question is whether and how species' genetic diversity modulates these dynamics, buffering against range contractions or facilitating range expansions. To test this, we integrated the largest global databases of species range shifts and genetic diversity, encompassing 4673 range shift estimates for 1888 species with available genetic data, including insects, arachnids, birds, fish, and plants. We found that range shifting rates were significantly shaped by the interaction of genetic diversity and climate change velocity. Under rapid warming, species with higher genetic diversity exhibited reduced trailing edge contractions, likely reflecting enhanced evolutionary potential or reduced vulnerability to drift. Under moderate warming, species with higher genetic diversity shifted more rapidly at leading edges and range centroids, consistent with greater colonisation ability. Our study provides evidence that genetic diversity potentially enables persistence at the trailing edge and colonisation at the leading edge, with the magnitude of these effects varying depending on the velocity of climate change.

Ecology LettersVol. 29(4)
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US), United States Geological Survey (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Tasmania (AU), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Institut Universitaire de France (FR), University of Aberdeen (GB), Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (FR), University of Florida (US), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (BR), Centre for Marine Socioecology (AU), Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés (FR), Conservation Science Partners (US), Fondation Pour la Recherche Sur la Biodiversité (FR), Instituto de Ecología (MX), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Université de Picardie Jules Verne (FR), McGill University (CA), Case Western Reserve University (US), University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Species Distribution and Climate Change
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