Project description
Solving the marine paradox: harbour porpoise genomics
Although North Atlantic harbour porpoises are excellent swimmers that encounter few physical barriers, they often form isolated, genetically distinct groups. This ‘marine-speciation paradox’ makes small populations vulnerable to climate change and high levels of commercial fishing by-catch. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the PorpAdapt project aims to understand this connectivity by analysing the largest cetacean dataset to date – 311 genomes. By combining genomics and marine biology, the project will trace how these lineages evolved and adapted to local environments. Beyond mapping genetic fitness, it aims to provide crucial recommendations for conservation managers. Ultimately, PorpAdapt will contribute to the development of effective strategies to protect these populations and enhance our understanding of marine evolution.
Objective
Marine mammals face few physical barriers to dispersal, yet evidence of isolation, genetic differentiation and local adaptation have been reported for many species; comprising what has been referred to as the marine-speciation paradox. The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is a champion of dispersal and population establishment, occurring across the northern hemisphere from subarctic to temperate regions. Despite its ability to disperse across the marine environment, evidence for multiple distinct genetic populations and subspecies have been suggested, indicating barriers to gene flow are present and populations have adapted locally to environmental conditions. Small, genetically isolated populations, such as those in the Belt and Black Seas are at risk of population collapse, with climate change as an impending threat and reported bycatch levels from commercial fisheries greater than five times sustainable estimates. Comprehensively assessing the connectivity of North Atlantic populations, assessing genomic erosion, and understanding the extent of local adaptations is essential to implement conservation strategies. I propose leveraging 311 genomes sampled across the entire North Atlantic to compile the most comprehensive dataset of cetacean to date. Drawing on the disciplines of marine biology, genomics, bioinformatics and conservation ecology, I plan to investigate the radiation of harbour porpoise lineages, assess their genomic fitness and document their adaptations to local environments. In a broader context, the results will aid in understanding how marine species form unique lineages and will provide value recommendations to nature managers on the status of harbour porpoise populations. The combination of my experience in speciation genomics and the expertise of my host in conservation and adaptation genomics will ensure the successful implementation of this project and prepare me for a career as a leading researcher in marine mammal science.
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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SE 114 18 Stockholm
Sweden
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