Résumé
Whether species can respond evolutionarily to current climate change is
crucial for the persistence of many species. Yet, very few studies have
examined genetic responses to climate change in manipulated experiments
carried out in natural field conditions. We examined the evolutionary
response to climate change in a common annelid worm using a controlled
replicated experiment where climatic conditions were manipulated in a
natural setting. Analyzing the transcribed genome of 15 local populations,
we found that about 12% of the genetic polymorphisms exhibit differences
in allele frequencies associated to changes in soil temperature and soil
moisture. This shows an evolutionary response to realistic climate change
happening over short-time scale, and calls for incorporating evolution
into models predicting future response of species to climate change. It
also shows that designed climate change experiments coupled with genome
sequencing offer great potential to test for the occurrence (or lack) of
an evolutionary response.