No leading-edge effect in North Atlantic harbor porpoises: Evolutionary and conservation implications.

Understanding species responses to past environmental changes can help forecast how they will cope with ongoing climate changes. Harbor porpoises are widely distributed in the North Atlantic and were deeply impacted by the Pleistocene changes with the split of three subspecies. Despite major impacts of fisheries on natural populations, little is known about population connectivity and dispersal, how they reacted to the Pleistocene changes, and how they will evolve in the future.