Changing coats with the season Many species of mammals and birds molt from summer brown to winter white coats to facilitate camouflage. Mills et al. mapped global patterns of seasonal coat color change across eight species including hares, weasels, and foxes. They found regions where individuals molt to white, brown, and both white and brown winter coats. Greater proportions of the populations molted to white in higher latitudes. Regions where seasonal coat changes are the most variable (molting to both brown and white) may provide resilience against the warming climate. Science, this issue p. 1033 Variation in winter coat color may protect species with winter camouflage—such as hares, weasels, and foxes—when the climate warms. Maintenance of biodiversity in a rapidly changing climate will depend on the efficacy of evolutionary rescue, whereby population declines due to abrupt environmental change are reversed by shifts in genetically driven adaptive traits. However, a lack of traits known to be under direct selection by anthropogenic climate change has limited the incorporation of evolutionary processes into global conservation efforts. In 21 vertebrate species, some individuals undergo a seasonal color molt from summer brown to winter white as camouflage against snow, whereas other individuals remain brown. Seasonal snow duration is decreasing globally, and fitness is lower for winter white animals on snowless backgrounds. Based on 2713 georeferenced samples of known winter coat color—from eight species across trophic levels—we identify environmentally driven clinal gradients in winter coat color, including polymorphic zones where winter brown and white morphs co-occur. These polymorphic zones, underrepresented by existing global protected area networks, indicate hot spots for evolutionary rescue in a changing climate.

中文翻译：

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冬季颜色多态性确定了气候变化进化救援的全球热点

根据季节更换皮毛 许多哺乳动物和鸟类从夏季的棕色蜕皮到冬季的白色皮毛，以方便伪装。米尔斯等人。绘制了包括野兔、黄鼠狼和狐狸在内的八种物种的季节性毛色变化的全球模式。他们发现了个体蜕皮为白色、棕色以及白色和棕色冬季外套的区域。在高纬度地区，有更多的种群蜕皮为白色。季节性皮毛变化最大的地区（蜕皮为棕色和白色）可能提供抵御气候变暖的能力。科学，这个问题 p。1033 冬季毛色的变化可能会在气候变暖时保护具有冬季伪装的物种，例如野兔、黄鼠狼和狐狸。在快速变化的气候中维持生物多样性将取决于进化救援的有效性，由遗传驱动的适应性特征的变化逆转了由于环境突然变化而导致的人口下降。然而，已知受人为气候变化直接选择的特征的缺乏限制了将进化过程纳入全球保护工作。在 21 种脊椎动物中，一些个体经历了从夏季棕色到冬季白色的季节性蜕皮，以作为对雪的伪装，而其他个体则保持棕色。季节性降雪持续时间在全球范围内正在减少，无雪背景下的冬季白色动物的健康度较低。基于 2713 个已知冬季毛色的地理参考样本——来自跨越营养级别的八个物种——我们确定了冬季毛色的环境驱动的临床梯度，包括冬季棕色和白色变形共同发生的多态区。