by Anna Alquitela
Climate change affects many organisms in varying ways. Organisms that are unlikely to migrate must adapt to climate change through evolutionary responses. Numerous studies have documented evolutionary responses to climate change over a period of one to three decades. However, the study by Kingsolver and Buckley (2015) provides evidence of a delayed evolutionary response to climate change for the subalpine and alpine butterfly, Colias meadii, in the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Kingsolver and Buckley investigated the evolution of wing melanin of C. meadii and its effect on selection. They state that many species of the study area have adapted to their local climate conditions and “have limited potential for large-scale migration and gene flow.” Continue reading