Andrés Cortés

By Andrés J. Cortés

Climate change is thought to alter the patterns of genetic diversity within species and populations. Yet, it is not well-understood how genetic diversity influences organism’s adaptation to changing climate. In this chapter, I explore how within-population genetic diversity may be affected by local environmental heterogeneity and to what extent this variation may promote adaption. I focus on mountain ecosystems since they are heterogeneous environments at a fine scale that offer a unique mosaic of highly localized environmental conditions. I start summarizing the drivers of genetic isolation at a local scale and the diversification and adaptation patterns that result from it. I continue discussing these processes in terms of populations' reactions to changing conditions using my own long-term ecological genomic studies. This allows me to demonstrate that local-scale variation, in the long term, may offer safe places for species in a warming world due to their fine-scale topographic variability, which may provide suitable habitats within only a few meters of species’ current locations. Yet, such fine-scale habitat variability can also lead to locally genetically adapted populations, so that individuals and populations adapted to a narrow range of conditions may respond poorly to future environments.

Part of the book: Genetic Diversity

By Andrés J. Cortés and Matthew W. Blair

Warming is expected to lead to drier environments worldwide, especially in the tropics, and it is unclear how crops will react. Drought tolerance often varies at small spatial scales in natural ecosystems, where many of the wild relatives and landraces of the main crops have been collected. Through a series of examples, we will show that collections of wild relatives and landraces, many of those deposited at germplasm banks, may represent this desired source of variation, as they are genetically diverse and phenotypically variable. For instance, using a spectrum of genotyping and phenotyping approaches, we have studied the extent of genetic and phenotypic diversity for drought tolerance in wild and landraces of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and compared it with the one available at cultivated varieties. Not surprisingly, most of the naturally available variation to cope with drought in the natural environments was lost through domestication and recent plant breeding. It is therefore imperative to exploit the reservoir of wild relatives and landraces to make crops more tolerant. Yet, it remains to be seen if the rate at which this naturally available variation can be incorporated into the cultivated varieties may keep pace with the rate of climate change.

Part of the book: Rediscovery of Landraces as a Resource for the Future

By Andrés J. Cortés and Matthew W. Blair

Warming is expected to lead to drier environments worldwide, especially in the tropics, and it is unclear how crops will react. Drought tolerance often varies at small spatial scales in natural ecosystems, where many of the wild relatives and landraces of the main crops have been collected. Through a series of examples, we will show that collections of wild relatives and landraces, many of those deposited at germplasm banks, may represent this desired source of variation, as they are genetically diverse and phenotypically variable. For instance, using a spectrum of genotyping and phenotyping approaches, we have studied the extent of genetic and phenotypic diversity for drought tolerance in wild and landraces of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and compared it with the one available at cultivated varieties. Not surprisingly, most of the naturally available variation to cope with drought in the natural environments was lost through domestication and recent plant breeding. It is therefore imperative to exploit the reservoir of wild relatives and landraces to make crops more tolerant. Yet, it remains to be seen if the rate at which this naturally available variation can be incorporated into the cultivated varieties may keep pace with the rate of climate change.

Part of the book: Climate Resilient Agriculture