Predicting home range from the genome: How does genomic architecture influence species range limits?
Dr Elahe Parvizi from Te Whare Wananga o Waikato the University of Waikato is investigating how genome size and composition can influence the ability of a species to colonise new territories
Published on 2 Whiringa-ā-rangi November 2023
Animals and plants vary widely in their ability to colonise new areas. Those that spread easily often become invasive pests, disrupting existing ecosystems, while those that struggle to survive outside of their home range can quickly become threatened if this habitat is degraded. A species’ range limits are influenced by life history factors such as reproductive rate, but emerging evidence suggests that the size and composition of the genome can also allow some species to expand their range more easily.
Dr Parvizi has been awarded a Marsden Fast-Start grant to investigate this intriguing link in sea squirts. Sea squirts, or ascidians, are marine filter-feeders that play important roles in marine ecosystems, but can also pose a threat through range expansion.For example, the sea squirt known as “sea vomit” can smother other marine organisms and has been a major problem for mussel aquaculture in Aotearoa New Zealand. Dr Parvizi and her team will use the latest comparative genomic approaches to study how the size and composition of sea squirt genomes can facilitate range expansion in different habitats around New Zealand, the Trans-Tasman region, and Antarctica. They hypothesise that widespread species with high potential for range expansion will have “adaptable” genomes with more genes, structural rearrangements and mobile genetic elements called transposons. They will also explore how genomic architecture might influence climate tolerance, and a species’ potential for range-expansion or -restriction due to climate change.
This research will inform range limit models that allow us to better predict the future distributions of organisms in our rapidly changing world. These predictions will be crucial for us to safeguard habitats that are essential for range-restricted species, and for us to manage the spread of plants and animals that threaten our health, environment or economy.
Dr Elahe Parvizi (photo: supplied)