Alaskan researchers find evidence of genetic change in salmon in response to warming climate

(Phys.org) -- Because the gradual increase in temperatures worldwide is still relatively new, researchers have had difficulty in finding examples of genetic changes in organisms that are adapting to the warmer temperatures. Instead they have seen examples of phenotypic plasticity, which is where animals make adaptive changes based on existing conditions that are not brought about by genetic changes. Now though, for the first time, researchers in Alaska have found evidence of genetic changes in pink salmon that have come about over the past few decades as the fish have been migrating upstream earlier than they used to. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the team describes how they found a genetic marker for late spawning fish diminishing over time as water temperatures increased.