We study how populations adapt (or fail to adapt) to rapid environmental change. Our primary study system, Brassica rapa, has become a model for contemporary evolution after California’s recent mega-drought, providing a unique opportunity to investigate adaptive responses to extreme climatic events in real time. Using the resurrection approach, which compares ancestral and descendant generations grown under common conditions, we directly observe evolutionary responses to recent shifts in environmental conditions.

Our focus is on both abiotic change (such as drought and altered resource availability) and biotic change (including herbivore pressure and climate-mediated shifts in species interactions). This allows us to quantify how quickly and predictably evolution can proceed under realistic environmental stress.

A central goal is to understand why adaptive potential differs among populations and species. We ask whether life-history strategies influence the pace of evolution - for example, whether short-lived or ruderal species evolve more rapidly than long-lived or stress-tolerant ones. We also test how spatial position within a species’ range affects evolutionary capacity, comparing core populations with range-edge populations that may differ in standing genetic variation and historical selection pressures.

Together, these comparisons across time, space, and ecological strategy help reveal the conditions under which evolution can keep pace with environmental change.(back)