The field of experimental evolution research has shown that phytoplankton, as the base of the marine food web, have a high adaptive potential to temperature stress. However, these lab-based studies are unable to capture a realistic selection pressure scenario as it plays out in nature. Therefore, it remains unclear how populations of phytoplankton have responded evolutionarily to historical warming and what this tells us about their future adaptability. To make a transformative contribution, we will resurrect resting cells of phytoplankton from the last ~200 years from sediment cores collected from the seafloor across Europe. These cells can reveal how evolution has played out in the past in relation to increasing sea surface temperatures. Measuring evolution as it has occurred in nature will render a realistic understanding of how organisms have adapted to historical warming. This can be applied in quantifying how primary productivity in the ocean may change in the future.

2025

2029