Historical Genomics of Kelp Forests
Project Lead:
Project Location:
Contact:
Project Overview
British Columbia’s kelp forests are declining globally due to climate change and overgrazing by sea urchins. Identifying drivers of change in kelp genomes that lead to kelp forest decline is critical to design better conservation strategies. Historical samples represent invaluable resources for tracking genetic changes (e.g., genetic diversity and population structure) over time. Historical genomics is a temporal approach that can provide insights into the historical and current connectivity between populations, the genetic composition of extinct populations, and the role of ecological and evolutionary factors on the genetic makeup of current-day populations.
Photo: Loading samples in a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine, part of preparing the samples for DNA sequencing. These can be used, for example, to make duplicate copies of the DNA to increase the amount available for sequencing, or to add small DNA barcodes in order to keep track of which DNA fragments correspond to each sample.
PC: Dr. Jordan Bemmels
Goals and Objectives
The Kelp Rescue Initiative aims to obtain the whole-genome sequences of kelp sampled from ecoregions across Vancouver Island, which will allow us to quantify changes in genetic diversity and population structure over time and link these changes to temporal shifts in ecological and environmental factors (e.g., temperature, salinity, nutrients availability).
Photo: Extracted DNA samples. The DNA is invisible to the naked eye but is dissolved in water in each tube.
PC: Dr. Jordan Bemmels
Research Methods
For this project, we collected blade material from ~70 herbarium samples of Giant kelp (Macrocystis spp.) and Bull kelp (Nereocystis spp.) archived in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum (UBC) and the University of Washington Herbarium (WTU). These samples cover a broad temporal, geographic, and environmental range.
Photo: A quality check for DNA extractions, used to test for the presence of contaminants that might prevent the DNA sample from being sequenced successfully.
PC: Dr. Jordan Bemmels
This project is currently in its infancy, but we expect our results provide novel insights on the evolutionary responses of kelp forests to global change and to facilitate conservation strategies for these important species.
Stay tuned for more updates!