Evolution works over millennia, but climate change is moving far faster, scientists say—outpacing the ability of ecosystems to adapt and leaving restoration teams searching for new ways to help nature keep up. Across coral reefs, coastal seagrass and long-lived forests, researchers are increasingly turning to conservation genomics, a field that uses DNA to identify genetic traits that may better match conditions expected under a warming climate.
Marine heat waves, record wildfires and coastal development are pushing ecosystems beyond their limits as emissions from fuels such as oil and gas accelerate climate change, the article says. It cites an estimate from a 2019 report by a United Nations-affiliated intergovernmental scientific body that about 1 million species face extinction, many within decades, largely due to habitat destruction, pollution and overuse of natural resources.
Scientists are trying to close the gap by sequencing an organism’s “complete genetic blueprint” to pinpoint individuals with traits suited for survival in drought, disease and other climate extremes, then using that information to steer restoration efforts. Coral reefs are among the first places researchers are applying the genomic approach, the reporting says: repeated marine heat waves have caused mass bleaching and devastated reefs worldwide.
For coral, researchers are sequencing corals and the algae living inside them to identify colonies that can naturally withstand higher temperatures. They are beginning to test whether selectively breeding and growing those more resilient corals can support reef recovery, while noting the work remains early.
In Southern California, researchers are applying the genomic approach to eelgrass—an important seagrass species—where traditional restoration methods are faltering. The reporting describes how conditions in San Diego’s bays are changing: waters are warming, king tides are becoming more frequent and severe as climate change reshapes tides, and those high tides stir up sediment and reduce the light reaching the seafloor. Development runoff can also cloud the water further, and efforts to replant what’s been lost fail about half the time, the article says.
“Conservation genomics is becoming particularly important because right now, the climate is changing — a plant that was growing great in San Diego Bay, now San Diego Bay might be too hot for it,” Todd Michael, a research professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, said. In Mission Bay, Michael and colleagues found a clue to improving restoration odds: a naturally occurring hybrid eelgrass that outperformed its parent species persisted where both parent types struggled, the article reports.
By sequencing the hybrid’s genome, the team identified genes tied to the plant’s circadian clock that stayed active longer under low-light conditions, a pattern scientists believe may help it photosynthesize more efficiently in murky water. The article says the researchers have partnered with ecologists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to explore how those insights could be applied in future restoration, while emphasizing that similar genomic work remains largely experimental and not yet deployed at scale in the field.
The reporting also describes similar genomic efforts for Northern California’s redwoods, which store large amounts of carbon and can grow in forests that have evolved alongside frequent low-intensity fire. Hotter, more destructive wildfires and drought are taking a growing toll, and the article says logging has had an even greater impact: about 95% of old-growth redwoods were cut, sharply reducing genetic diversity. Researchers have sequenced the redwood genome, described as nearly nine times larger than the human genome.
David Neale, a forest geneticist and distinguished professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, said the work is not just about restoring what existed before. “Where one organism was adapted to a certain location at one moment in time, it may no longer be,” he said, adding: “It might require different genetic variation to adapt to the new environment.” Early analyses have begun linking genes to traits such as drought tolerance and temperature adaptation, but researchers say more rigorous work is needed before those links can guide restoration, with funding described as a limiting factor.
Even as the genomic tools expand, experts warn that conservation genomics alone cannot solve climate change. Karen Holl, a distinguished professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said, “It can be helpful, but it’s not a solution unto itself,” and that “What should be prioritized is reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” Holl said that ecosystems are built from complex relationships among plants, animals, microbes and fungi, so changes in one species may not guarantee the survival of the many others that depend on it.
“Can you genetically engineer a few species that would be more tolerant? Absolutely. But that’s not an ecosystem,” Holl said. “We’re not going to engineer our way out of climate change.”