Evolutionary consequences of extreme climate events.

Abstract

Extreme climate events, such as storms, droughts or cold waves, wreak havoc on human and natural systems, but they can also catalyze rapid evolutionary change. Because such extreme events have historically been rare and difficult to forecast, studies of their biological impacts have mostly been serendipitous, limiting our understanding of their evolutionary consequences. However, with extreme climate events now increasing in frequency and severity due to human-induced global change, the opportunity - and need - to study their evolutionary consequences has grown. Drawing on a set of case studies, we here review the evolutionary outcomes of extreme climate events and show how they depend on the characteristics of the events themselves, the traits under selection, the adaptive capacity of affected populations and the ecological context of selection. Extreme climate events offer a rare chance to observe rapid evolution in wild populations and an imperative to understand its consequences in the Anthropocene.