Ancient Ice Age Legacy Shapes How Seagrasses Respond To Today's Environmental Threats | Smithsonian Institution
Evolution in casting a longer shadow than previously thought, scientists report in a new paper published the week of Aug. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Smithsonian scientists and colleagues looked at eelgrass communities—the basis of many coastal marine food webs along the north Atlantic and Pacific coasts—and found that their ancient genetic history can play a more powerful role than the current environment in determining their size, structure, and who they are. live in it. And this could have implications for how well eelgrass adapts to threats like climate change. About half a million years ago, when the world was warmer, some eelgrass plants made the arduous journey from their homes in the Pacific to the Atlantic. Not all plants are hardy enough to travel across the North Pole. For those who succeeded, a series of ice ages during the Pleistocene Epoch further influenced how far they could spread. That millennial struggle left a lasting imprint in their DNA