ESA’s Announcement of the Award Winners
George Mercer Award
Megan L. Vahsen, Michael J. Blum, J. Patrick Megonigal, Scott J. Emrich, James R. Holmquist, Brady Stiller, Kathe E. O. Todd-Brown and Jason S. McLachlan
ESA presents the 2024 George Mercer Award to the authors of “Rapid plant trait evolution can alter coastal wetland resilience to sea level rise,” published in Science Jan. 26, 2023.
The George Mercer Award was established in 1948 and is given annually for an outstanding ecological research paper published within the past two years with an early-career lead author.
This study calls attention to the significant, yet often overlooked, role of rapid evolution in shaping how ecosystems respond to global change. Examining a dominant coastal marsh sedge, the research reveals how genetically-based variation in a plant’s traits—specifically traits affecting root growth—can evolve rapidly and influence a marsh’s resilience to sea level rise.
The research team used a unique approach, growing “resurrected” plants from decades-old seeds recovered from marsh soils and employing an ecosystem modeling approach to demonstrate that genetic variation observed among the plants and rapid evolution can affect the ecosystem’s ability to store carbon and build soil elevation. In turn, these functions directly impact the wetland’s capacity to keep pace with rising sea levels, a key factor in its long-term persistence.
Bridging quantitative genetics and ecosystem modeling, this study highlights the need to consider evolutionary processes in ecological forecasting. The paper’s innovative use of historical seed samples, genetic methods and simulation models advance our understanding of the interplay between evolutionary and ecosystem-level responses to anthropogenic change.