Meeting Abstract
Local adaptation to upwelling systems is a potential mechanism for resilience to future ocean change. Upwelling brings acidic water to the surface, but many species have been found to survive low pH values despite its corrosive effects. Balanophyllia elegans endures heterogeneous environments both through its broad geographic range (Southeast Alaska to Baja California) and the seasonal variability in temperature and upwelling throughout the year. This wide range of selective pressures and B. elegans’ restricted larval dispersal may promote high population structure and local adaptation. Hellberg (1994) discovered allozyme clines in B. elegans that correlate with latitude although differences among localities were not significantly different. Using a whole-genome scan (RADSeq), we will reanalyze historical coral samples from four of the same locations in California collected by Hellberg (1994) and compare them to modern samples from the same sites. We will compare the frequency and number of alleles between populations and with time. We expect to observe changes in allele frequencies that shift with environmental gradients in temperature and upwelling through space and time. For example, there might be a shift in allele frequency to favor alleles that are warm adapted, causing Northern populations to shift towards allele frequencies historically found in Southern populations.
