What defines the limits to a species’ geographic range?

Fundamentally, a population fails to expand when it cannot achieve a positive growth rate beyond its current limits. The conditions under which this occurs can embody virtually all components of a species’ biology, making range limits an ideal testing ground for studies of the ecological and evolutionary impacts of nearly every imaginable form of rapid environmental change.

In this project, REU students will use genomic data sampled from multiple populations to explore the interaction between adaptive and maladaptive gene flow and natural selection on the range dynamics of the pink volcano barnacle, Tetraclita rubescens. Students will collect samples from sites on the California coast, extract DNA, assemble and annotate reference genomes, identify genetic variants, and conduct population genetic analyses.

With this experience, the REU students will learn how modern genomic tools can be used to understand the mechanistic basis of species’ responses to warming of the world’s oceans.