Integrating Earth-life systems: a geogenomic approach

For centuries, scientists have recognized and worked to understand how Earth's mutable landscape and climate shape the distribution and evolution of species. Here, we describe the emerging field of geogenomics, which uses the reciprocal and deep integration of geologic, climatic, and population genomic data to define and test cause-effect relationships between Earth and life at intermediate spatial and temporal scales (i.e., the mesoscale). Technological advances now power the detailed reconstruction of landscape and evolutionary histories, but transdisciplinary collaborations and new quantitative tools are needed to better integrate Earth-life data. Geogenomics can help build a more unified theory and characterize the boundary conditions under which geologic and climatic processes generate new biodiversity, how species' responses differ, and why.

Automated summary

Geogenomics is an emerging field that integrates geologic, climatic, and population genomic data to understand the cause-effect relationships between Earth and life. It helps in building a more unified theory and studying the boundary conditions of biodiversity generation and species' responses to geologic and climatic processes.