Forest tree populations are well adapted to their local environments at present, but anthropogenic climate change is substantially altering adaptive landscapes, particularly in temperate and boreal regions. In the absence of adaptation to rapid changes in climatic, tree populations will be forced to either migrate or be extirpated. As it is unlikely that migration rates will be sufficient to realize the range shifts predicted by climate-based species distribution models, the importance of adaptive evolution cannot be underestimated. In order to predict the potential for adaptation in the context of climate change, we must first have an understanding of the genomic underpinnings of the relevant traits.
