Climate changes and increasingly warmer sea water are expected to affect marine ecosystems and species development. Since herring has a significant adaptability, and there is extensive knowledge about its genetic variations, it is particularly interesting to study.
A group of researchers is investigating how herring has adapted to changed environmental conditions over the past centuries. However, there has been a lack of opportunity to compare fish samples from the beginning of the 1600s with current data. The researchers believe they have now solved this by attempting to extract DNA from bone remains of herring found on the ship Vasa.
"We have been able to take samples from two storage barrels that were on board when Vasa sank," says Nicolas Dussex, researcher at the Natural History Museum, in a press release.
The results of the study will be complemented with simulations to predict how rising water temperatures affect herring's future migration patterns, genetic composition, and local adaptation. The information can be used to develop management strategies that protect threatened stocks from climate changes.
The hope is that the experiences from the project can also be used for other species.
