Reproductive phenological shifts and other phylogenetic trait changes in the Arbutoideae (Ericaceae) in the context of drought, seed predation, and fire.

Botany ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Thomas Parker ◽  
Morgan A. Stickrod
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Abiotic Conditions ◽  
Phenological Shifts ◽  
Herbarium Collections ◽  
Reproductive Characters ◽  
Fruit Characters ◽  
Dry Fruit ◽  
Annual Flux

Phenology is an ecologically critical attribute that commonly is coordinated with other plant traits. Phenological shifts may be the result of evolutionary adjustments to persistently new conditions, or transitory, varying with annual flux in abiotic conditions. In summer-dry, fire-prone Mediterranean-climates, for example, many plant lineages have historically migrated from forests to more arid shrublands resulting in adaptive trait changes. These shifts in habitat abiotic conditions and biotic interactions influence morphology of flowers and fruits and will interact with phenological timing. The Arbutoideae (Ericaceae) is one lineage that illustrates such modifications, with fruit characters evolving among genera from fleshy to dry fruit, thin to stony endocarps, and bird to rodent dispersal, among other changes. We scored herbarium collections and used ancestral trait analysis to determine phenological shifts among the five Arbutoid genera found in semi-arid climates. Our objective was to determine if phenology shifts with the phylogenetic transition to different reproductive characters. Our results indicate that phenological shifts began with some traits, like the development of a stony endocarp or dry fruits, but not with all significant trait changes. We conclude that early phenological shifts correlating with some reproductive traits were permissive for the transition to other later character changes.

Minimum resources for phenotyping morphological traits of maize (Zea mays L.) genetic resources

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodomiro Ortiz ◽  
José Crossa ◽  
Ricardo Sevilla
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Variation ◽  
Variance Components ◽  
Maximum Likelihood Method ◽  
Zea Mays L ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Likelihood Method ◽  
Vegetative Traits ◽  
Highland Maize ◽  
Northern Peru

The aim of this research was to use variance components to calculate total phenotypic variation for 12 vegetative and reproductive maize traits. A set of 59 accessions, belonging to nine Peruvian highland maize races, were grown at two consecutive planting seasons in 2 years at one inter-Andean site in northern Peru. The trial data provided a means for calculating the variance components using the restricted maximum-likelihood method. The variance components were assumed to be stable while the number of environments and replications varied to simulate phenotypic variation for each trait. The least number of environments and replications, which does not affect the precision of phenotyping, was selected for assessing each trait. Tabulated data provide the number of environments and replications that can be used as a reference for Peruvian highland trials to assess quantitative variation in plant and reproductive traits. The results suggest that fewer environments and replications are needed for reproductive than for plant traits because the former show higher heritability than vegetative traits.

INDUCED MODIFICATIONS IN REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS OF SALT-TREATED PLANTS OF SORGHUM BICOLOR

1998 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.Nissim Amzallag
Keyword(s):  
Sorghum Bicolor ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Salt Adaptation ◽  
Early Exposure ◽  
Stem Height ◽  
Shoot Dry Weight ◽  
Adaptation Response ◽  
Reproductive Characters

Plants of Sorghum bicolor were grown hydroponically in a solution containing 150 mM NaCl, and the reproductive characters were analyzed at the end of the life cycle. A subpopulation was exposed to salinity on day 8 following germination (early-exposed plants), and another subpopulation was first exposed to salinity on day 21 following germination (late-exposed plants). Fertility and stem height, as determined per g shoot dry weight (DW), were similar for control and late-exposed plants. However, these parameters were largely modified in early-exposed plants. The population of late-exposed plants displayed an increase in phenotypic variability. However, the monomodal structure of the population remained similar to that of the population of control plants. In contrast, a large increase in diversity was observed in the population of early-exposed plants, and the frequency distribution of the reproductive characters appeared as plurimodal for this population. Early exposure to NaCl has been previously shown to induce an increase in salinity tolerance of the plant (termed salt adaptation). This effect was not observed for late-exposed plants. The significance of the induced modifications in reproductive characters is discussed in the light of the salt adaptation response in Sorghum.

scholarly journals Domestication has altered within-plant trait variability in a crop plant

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Robinson ◽  
A.L. Schilmiller ◽  
W.C. Wetzel
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Multiple Traits ◽  
Leaf Trait ◽  
Crop Fields ◽  
Plant Trait ◽  
Trait Diversity ◽  
Wild Progenitors ◽  
Trait Variability

AbstractFor over 10,000 years humans have shaped plant traits through domestication. Studies of domestication have focused on changes to trait averages; however, plants also have characteristic levels of trait variability among their repeated parts, which can be heritable and mediate critical ecological interactions. Here, we ask how domestication selection has altered among-leaf trait variability using alfalfa (Medicago sativa), the oldest forage crop in the world. We found that domestication changed variability more than averages for multiple traits. Relative to wild progenitors, domesticates had elevated variability in specific leaf area, trichomes, C:N, and phytochemical concentrations and reduced variability in phytochemical composition among their leaves. Our work shows that within-plant trait variability is a novel facet of the domesticated plant phenotype, constituting a novel frontier of trait diversity within crop fields. As many critical biotic interactions occur at the scale of individual plants, our findings suggest that trait variability and diversity among leaves could act to magnify or counter the depauperate trait diversity often found at higher scales in agroecosystems.

scholarly journals Morphological and phenological shifts in the Plantago lanceolata L. species as linked to climate change over the past 100 years

Hacquetia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-305
Author(s):  
Svitlana Prokhorova ◽  
Maksym Netsvetov
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Plantago Lanceolata ◽  
Leaf Length ◽  
Perennial Herb ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Phenological Shifts ◽  
Herbarium Collections ◽  
And Shifts

AbstractHerbarium collections have proven to be irreplaceable information base in recent studies directed towards revealing shifts in plants phenology and morphology caused by climate change. We examined eight parameters of morphological traits in the perennial herb species Plantago lanceolata L. collected in the wild between 1905 and 2019 and stored at the KW-herbarium (Kyiv, Ukraine) to find out if there were changes in plants’ organ sizes during the last 114 years. For this period, we also calculated 13 climatic parameters obtained from meteorological records from the State archive that gave us the opportunity to check if there are any relations between the climate change in Kyiv region and shifts in morphological parameters of plants. Our results have shown Plantago lanceolata leaf blades, petioles and spikes had become significantly longer with time, increasing 3.0 cm, 2.1 cm and 0.6 cm respectively. The Co-inertia analysis revealed that 34% of the morphological changes was attributed to climate change. The analysis also demonstrated that leaf length correlated more with raised temperatures when plants were in flower, while spike length depended on the temperatures during bud development. Received knowledge can be used to reveal rapid evolutionary processes of the Plantago species and predicting their further course for the construction of historical climate models based on the leaves traits.

scholarly journals Strengthened mutualistic adaptation between teosinte and its rhizosphere biota in cold climates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. O’Brien ◽  
Ruairidh J.H. Sawers ◽  
Jaime Gasca-Pineda ◽  
Ivan Baxter ◽  
Luis E. Eguiarte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Local Adaptation ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Stress Gradient ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
List Type ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Plant Leaves ◽  
Elevational Variation

SummaryWhile abiotic environments consistently shape local adaptation, the strength of local adaptation to biotic interactions may vary more. One theory, COCO (CO-evolutionary Outcomes across Conditionality), predicts it may be strongest where species experience greater stress, because stress increases fitness impacts of species interactions. For example, in plant interactions with rhizosphere biota, positive outcomes increase with stress from low soil fertility, drought and cold.To investigate the influence of abiotic stress gradients on adaptation between plants and rhizosphere biota, we used a greenhouse common garden experiment recombining teosinte, Zea mays ssp. mexicana (wild relative of maize), and rhizosphere biota, collected across a stress gradient (elevational variation in temperature, precipitation, and nutrients).We found stronger local adaptation between teosinte and rhizosphere biota from colder, more stressful sites, as expected by COCO. However, biota from less stressful, warmer sites provided greater average benefits across teosinte populations. Links between plant traits and 20-element profiles of plant leaves explained fitness variation, persisted in the field, were influenced by both plants and biota, and largely reflected patterns of local adaptation.In sum, we uncovered greater local adaptation to biotic interactions in colder sites, and that both plants and rhizosphere biota affect the expression of plant phenotypes.

scholarly journals Patterns of flower-visiting insects depend on flowering phenological shifts along an altitudinal gradient in subalpine moorland ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natsuki Matsubara ◽  
Akihito Goto ◽  
Kei Uchida ◽  
Takehiro Sasaki
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Growth Period ◽  
Flowering Phenology ◽  
Mass Flowering ◽  
Drosera Rotundifolia ◽  
Recent Climate ◽  
Phenological Shifts ◽  
Flower Visiting ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Abstract Alpine and subalpine moorland ecosystems contain unique plant communities, often with many endemic and threatened species, some of which depend on insect pollination. Although alpine and subalpine moorland ecosystems are vulnerable to climatic change, few studies have investigated flower-visiting insects in such ecosystems and examined the factors regulating plant-pollinator interactions along altitudinal gradients. Here, we explored how altitudinal patterns in flower visitors change according to altitudinal shifts in flowering phenology in subalpine moorland ecosystems in northern Japan. We surveyed flower-visiting insects and flowering plants at five sites differing in altitude in early July (soon after snowmelt) and mid-August (peak growing season). In July, we found a higher visiting frequency by more variable insect orders including Dipteran, Hymenopteran, Coleopteran, and Lepidopteran species at the higher altitude sites in association with the mass flowering of Geum pentapetalum and Nephrophyllidium crista-galli. In August, such altitudinal patterns were not observed, and Dipteran species dominated across the sites due to the flowering of Narthecium asiaticum and Drosera rotundifolia. Earlier snowmelt associated with recent climate change is expected to extend the growth period of moorland plants and modify flowering phenology in moorland ecosystems, leading to altered plant-pollinator interactions. Our study provides key baselines for the detection of endangered biotic interactions and extinction risks of moorland plants under ongoing climate change.

scholarly journals Analysis of Reproductive Characters in Hybrid Pig Combination (CLW x CL) x (D x Pn)

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-203
Author(s):  
Libor Sládek ◽  
Vladimír Mikule ◽  
Martina Behančínová
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Average Weight ◽  
Weaned Piglets ◽  
Average Birth Weight ◽  
The Third ◽  
Reproductive Characters

The aim of the experiment was to analyse reproductive characters in hybrid pig combination (CLW x CL) x (D x Pn). These reproductive traits of sows were studied: number of all, live born and weaned piglets, loses from live born piglets till weaning. These influences with an impact on reproductive characters were monitored: order of litter, number of piglets in a litter, birth weight of piglets, influences of sex and litter order on birth weight of piglets. An average number of all born piglets per sow and litter it was 13.25 piglets. From this an average number of live born piglets it was 12.48 piglets per sow and litter and from each litter there was 11.40 of weaned piglets. The highest number of live born piglets was reached in sows on the fourth litter – 14.50 piglets. On eighth and nineth litter fertility decreased to 11.60 and 11.00 piglets. Statistical conclusive difference (P ≤ 0.05) was found between fourth (14.50) and nineth (11.00) litter. Among birth weight in both sexes a statistical conclusive difference (P ≤ 0.05) was found. Higher birth weight (1.46 kg) was found in boars in comparison with gilts (1.40 kg). The highest birth weights in gilts were reached in litters of sows on the second and nineth litters – 1.49 kg and 1.48 kg. Birth weight decreased on tenth litter with average weight of 1.28 kg. The highest birth weight in boars was detected on the seventh litter but on the seventh litter piglets of only one sow were weightened so the result 1.67 kg is not objective. The second highest average birth weight was reached on the third litters – 1.53 kg. On the contrary the lowest average birth weight was on the fourth and tenth litters where boars reached weight of 1.28 and 1.25 kg. Statistical conclusive difference (P ≤ 0.05) was found between the second (1.53 kg) and tenth (1.25 kg) litter.

Biotic interactions drive ecosystem responses to exotic plant invaders

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 368 (6494) ◽  
pp. 967-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. P. Waller ◽  
W. J. Allen ◽  
B. I. P. Barratt ◽  
L. M. Condron ◽  
F. M. França ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Exotic Species ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Soil Biota ◽  
Exotic Plant ◽  
Biological Interactions ◽  
Ecosystem Responses ◽  
Plant Invaders ◽  
Plant Effects

Ecosystem process rates typically increase after plant invasion, but the extent to which this is driven by (i) changes in productivity, (ii) exotic species’ traits, or (iii) novel (non-coevolved) biotic interactions has never been quantified. We created communities varying in exotic plant dominance, plant traits, soil biota, and invertebrate herbivores and measured indicators of carbon cycling. Interactions with soil biota and herbivores were the strongest drivers of exotic plant effects, particularly on measures of soil carbon turnover. Moreover, plant traits related to growth and nutrient acquisition explained differences in the ways that exotic plants interacted with novel biota compared with natives. We conclude that novel biological interactions with exotic species are a more important driver of ecosystem transformation than was previously recognized.

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