scholarly journals Climate-driven divergent selection in a foundation tree species: QST-FST evidence from multiple common gardens

Author(s):  
Hillary Cooper ◽  
Gerard Allan ◽  
Lela Andrews ◽  
Rebecca Best ◽  
Kevin Grady ◽  
...  

Widespread tree species span large climatic gradients that often lead to high levels of local adaptation and phenotypic divergence across their range. To evaluate the relative roles of selection and drift in driving divergence in phenotypic traits, we compared molecular and quantitative genetic variation in Populus fremontii (Fremont cottonwood), using data from > 9000 SNPs and genotypes from 16 populations reciprocally planted in three common gardens that span the species’ climatic range. We present three major findings: 1) There is significant within- and among-population variation in functional traits expressed in each of the common gardens. 2) There is evidence from all three gardens that population divergence in leaf phenology and specific leaf area has been driven by divergent selection (QST > FST). In contrast, QST-FST comparisons for performance traits like height and basal diameter were highly dependent on growing environment, indicating divergent, stabilizing, or no selection across the three gardens. We show this is likely due to local adaptation of source populations to contrasting growing environments. 3) Climate is a primary selective force driving trait divergence, where the traits showing the strongest correlations with a genotype’s provenance climate also had the highest QST values. We conclude that climatic gradients have contributed to significant phenotypic differences and local adaptation in Fremont cottonwood. These results are important because as climate is changing much more rapidly, traits such as phenology that are finely tuned to local conditions may now be subject to intense selection or quickly become maladaptive.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Pina-Martins ◽  
J. Baptista ◽  
G. Pappas ◽  
O. S. Paulo

AbstractSpecies respond to global climatic changes in a local context. Understanding this process is paramount due to the pace of these changes. Tree species are particularly interesting to study in this regard due to their long generation times, sedentarism, and ecological and economic importance. Quercus suber L. is an evergreen forest tree species of the Fagaceae family with an essentially Western Mediterranean distribution. Despite frequent assessments of the species’ evolutionary history, large-scale genetic studies have mostly relied on plastidial markers, whereas nuclear markers have been used on studies with locally focused sampling strategies. The potential response of Q. suber to global climatic changes has also been studied, under ecological modelling. In this work, “Genotyping by Sequencing” (GBS) is used to derive 2,547 SNP markers to assess the species’ evolutionary history from a nuclear DNA perspective, gain insights on how local adaptation may be shaping the species’ genetic background, and to forecast how Q. suber may respond to global climatic changes from a genetic perspective. Results reveal an essentially unstructured species, where a balance between gene flow and local adaptation keeps the species’ gene pool somewhat homogeneous across its distribution, but at the same time allows variation clines for the individuals to cope with local conditions. “Risk of Non-Adaptedness” (RONA) analyses, suggest that for the considered variables and most sampled locations, the cork oak does not require large shifts in allele frequencies to survive the predicted climatic changes. However, more research is required to integrate these results with those of ecological modelling.


Author(s):  
Susan E. Riechert

Ecotypic variation refers to differences in traits between populations that reflect adaptation to different selection pressures. The origin of the term lies in Turesson’s (1922) observation that population differences in plant growth forms often breed true in a controlled environment. From experiments, Turesson (1922) concluded that much between-population variation in phenotypic traits reflects genotypic adaptation to local conditions. He described the phenomenon as ecotypic variation and the species population exhibiting a particular variant as an ecotype. The meaning of adaptation must be examined if the phenomenon of ecotypic variation is to be understood. Readers should refer to Reeve and Sherman (1993) for an in-depth analysis of the problems surrounding various definitions of this term. Briefly, Antonovics (1987) divided evolutionary studies into two distinct classes: those that consider the influences of past events (phylogenies) and those that consider why certain traits predominate over others in an ongoing selection process. Tinbergen (1963) proposed a similar subdivision. Most definitions of adaptation incorporate these two elements in that they require a history of selective modification of a trait. For instance, Harvey and Pagel (1991) express adaptations in terms of traits derived in their phylogenetic group that have current utilitarian function. However, ecotypic variation refers to trait differences that reflect adaptations to local conditions at one point in time. Phylogenetic constraints need not be examined except in terms of how they might limit adaptation. Therefore, when I refer to adaptation in this chapter, I will be limiting it to “a phenotypic variant that results in the highest fitness among a specified set of variants in a given environment” (Reeve and Sherman 1993). This definition is history-free. It is based on extant competing phenotypes, and thus fitness is of significance only in reference to current alternatives. Although the definition I borrow from Reeve and Sherman (1993) for adaptation does not specify that there be an underlying genetic mechanism, optimization models assume that there is (Charlesworth 1977). Minimally, we wish to know whether sufficient genetic complexity (variability) exists for a predicted optimal solution to be reached.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Cornille ◽  
A. Salcedo ◽  
H. Huang ◽  
D. Kryvokhyzha ◽  
K. Holm ◽  
...  

AbstractSpecies having experienced rapid range expansion represent unique opportunities to evaluate the dynamics of adaptation during colonization of new environments. We investigated the consequences of range expansion on local adaptation of a successful worldwide colonizer, the shepherd’s purse Capsella bursa-pastoris. This species is an annual weed that originated recently in Eurasia and has now broadly colonized both temperate and subtropical areas. We assessed the performance, genetic diversity, and phenology of field-collected accessions belonging to three distinct genetic clusters of decreasing age (Middle East, Europe and Asia) in three common gardens in Europe, Asia and North America. To understand the genetic basis of local adaptation in this species, we also tested for correlation between SNP allele frequencies and environmental factors in Europe and Asia. Overall, we showed that patterns of local adaptation depended on population history: some older populations were weakly adapted to local conditions while those closer to the front of the colonization wave, far from the origin of the species, were maladapted whatever the common gardens. Altogether, our results have important consequences for the understanding of the evolution and adaptation of self-fertilizing plant during range expansion.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Liang Lu ◽  
Yan-Fu Qu ◽  
Hong Li ◽  
Xiang Ji

Abstract Phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation are viewed as the main factors that result in between-population variation in phenotypic traits, but contributions of these factors to phenotypic variation vary between traits and between species and have only been explored in a few species of reptiles. Here, we incubated eggs of the Chinese skink (Plestiodon chinensis) from 7 geographically separated populations in Southeast China at 3 constant temperatures (24, 28, and 32 °C) to evaluate the combined effects of clutch origin, source population, and incubation temperature on hatchling traits. The relative importance of these factors varied between traits. Nearly all examined hatchling traits, including body mass, snout–vent length (SVL), tail length, head size, limb length, tympanum diameter, and locomotor speed, varied among populations and were affected by incubation temperature. Measures for hatchling size (body mass and SVL) varied considerably among clutches. Source population explained much of the variation in hatchling body mass, whereas incubation temperature explained much of the variation in other examined traits. Our results indicate that between-population variation in hatchling traits of P. chinensis likely reflects the difference in natural incubation conditions and genetic divergence.


Evolution ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1934-1946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Karlsson Green ◽  
Erik I. Svensson ◽  
Johannes Bergsten ◽  
Roger Härdling ◽  
Bengt Hansson

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (22) ◽  
pp. 5531-5547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Zhao ◽  
Klaas Vrieling ◽  
Hui Liao ◽  
Manqiu Xiao ◽  
Yongqing Zhu ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angélica Cuevas ◽  
Mark Ravinet ◽  
Glenn-Peter Sætre ◽  
Fabrice Eroukhmanoff

ABSTRACTHybridization increases genetic variation, hence hybrid species may have a strong evolutionary potential once their admixed genomes have stabilized and incompatibilities have been purged. Yet, little is known about how such hybrid lineages evolve at the genomic level following their formation, in particular the characteristics of their adaptive potential, i.e. constraints and facilitations of diversification. Here we investigate how the Italian sparrow (Passer italiae), a homoploid hybrid species, has evolved and locally adapted to its variable environment. Using restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) on several populations across the Italian peninsula, we evaluate how genomic constraints and novel genetic variation have influenced population divergence and adaptation. We show that population divergence within this hybrid species has evolved in response to climatic variation. As in non-hybrid species, climatic differences may even reduce gene flow between populations, suggesting ongoing local adaptation. We report outlier genes associated with adaptation to climatic variation, known to be involved in beak morphology in other species. Most of the strongly divergent loci among Italian sparrow populations seem not to be differentiated between its parent species, the house and Spanish sparrow. Within the parental species, population divergence has occurred mostly in loci where different alleles segregate in the parent species, unlike in the hybrid, suggesting that novel combinations of parental alleles in the hybrid have not necessarily enhanced its evolutionary potential. Rather, our study suggests that constraints linked to incompatibilities may have restricted the evolution of this admixed genome, both during and after hybrid species formation.


Interação ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-84
Author(s):  
Gildomar Alves dos Santos ◽  
David Francis Robert Philip Burslem ◽  
Milton Serpa de Meira Jr ◽  
Stanislau Parreira Cardozo

Experimental restoration using tree seedlings is a common strategy for accelerating succession on degraded post-agricultural land formerly occupied by Cerrado vegetation. Seedling growth in degraded tropical lands is constrained by various factors. The goal of this study was to evaluate the seedling growth and survival of seven native tree species used to accelerate forest recovery in a gully area with stressful environmental conditions. The experimental design involved fenced and unfenced blocks, presence and absence of fertilization and use of an adhesive to prevent ant herbivory (four treatments with four replicates). Seedlings were planted in December 2006 and collection of data on seedling basal diameter, height, mortality and herbivory started on January 24th 2007 and continued every three months, until final data collection on January 31st 2009 (9 measurement dates). Overall seedling survival was 38 % and protecting seedlings did not influence growth, but seedlings grew faster in response to the addition of fertilizer containing N, P and K. The use of the adhesive Tanglefoot to exclude leaf cutter ants had no influence on growth. Fencing reduced seedling mortality, but combining fencing with Tanglefoot did not. Nutrient availability limits seedling growth and survival in the gully. Direct planting of seedlings of native trees may accelerate succession in degraded Cerrado lands subject to interventions that overcome constraints on seedling growth and survival.


2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dušan Gömöry ◽  
Roman Longauer ◽  
Diana Krajmerová

AbstractClimate change may endanger not only yield and fulfilling the social functions of European forests, but even the survival of several tree species. The study emphasises the complexity of climatic factors and physiological mechanisms, which may potentially endanger the persistence of tree populations and which cannot be reduced to problems of drought and temperature increase. A substantial inter-population variation in traits associated with the response to climatic stress, observed in provenance experiments, is a prerequisite for the choice of proper forest reproductive material (FRM) in reforestation as a strategy of climate-change mitigation. Assisted migration, i.e., transfer of FRM from source regions, currently characterised by such climate characteristics, which are expected in the target regions in the future, requires knowledge of key stress factors (depending on the climate scenario), physiological processes associated with the adaptation to this stress, identification of genes and eventually epigenetic mechanisms, controlling adaptation processes, and finally mapping of genetic and/or epigenetic variation in key genes. For most tree species, such information is not yet available. Therefore, assisted migration under such information uncertainty needs to be complemented by in situ gene conservation measures to preserve the possibility of reversing the effects of eventual erroneous decisions on FRM transfer.


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