Testing assisted gene flow for terrestrial-breeding frogs in a drying climate

Date: 04, Aug, 2021
Author(s): Tabitha Rudin-Bitterli   Nicola Mitchell   |   Rudin-Bitterli, T., Mitchell, N.

Assisted gene flow helps threatened populations adapt to climate change by introducing desirable genetic material from other populations. We tested using assisted gene flow to improve the capacity of crawling frogs to survive drier future climate conditions, through cross-breeding and assessing how offspring tolerated development on dry soils. Results were varied; one cross showed increased tolerance to drier soils, while other crosses showed neutral results, or negative results where offspring developed abnormally.