Evolution in Response to Climate Change

Evolution proceeds unceasingly in all biological populations. Consequently, there is no doubt that natural populations will continue to evolve and, in particular, that adaptation to changing climate is possible, in principle. However, it remains unclear how the several evolutionary processes - natural selection, mutation, gene flow between divergent populations, and genetic drift - will jointly alter any single population, or the biota collectively. Even though natural selection is likely to proceed, there is insufficient basis to predict for how many species or which species the rate and extent of adaptive evolution will be adequate for populations to persist, especially given the very high rates of environmental change expected.