1
|
Williamson M, Gerhard D, Hulme PE, Millar A, Chapman H. High-performing plastic clones best explain the spread of yellow monkeyflower from lowland to higher elevation areas in New Zealand. J Evol Biol 2023; 36:1455-1470. [PMID: 37731241 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 08/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
The relative contribution of adaptation and phenotypic plasticity can vary between core and edge populations, with implications for invasive success. We investigated the spread of the invasive yellow monkeyflower, Erythranthe gutatta in New Zealand, where it is spreading from lowland agricultural land into high-elevation conservation areas. We investigated the extent of phenotypic variation among clones from across the South Island, looked for adaptation and compared degrees of plasticity among lowland core versus montane range-edge populations. We grew 34 clones and measured their vegetative and floral traits in two common gardens, one in the core range at 9 m a.s.l. and one near the range-edge at 560 m a.s.l. Observed trait variation was explained by a combination of genotypic diversity (as identified through common gardens) and high phenotypic plasticity. We found a subtle signature of local adaptation to lowland habitats but all clones were plastic and able to survive and reproduce in both gardens. In the range-edge garden, above-ground biomass was on average almost double and stolon length almost half that of the same clone in the core garden. Clones from low-elevation sites showed higher plasticity on average than those from higher elevation sites. The highest performing clones in the core garden were also top performers in the range-edge garden. These results suggest some highly fit general-purpose genotypes, possibly pre-adapted to New Zealand montane conditions, best explains the spread of E. gutatta from lowland to higher elevation areas.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Williamson
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research ESR Christchurch, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Daniel Gerhard
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Philip E Hulme
- Department of Pest Management and Conservation, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
- Bioprotection Aotearoa, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Aaron Millar
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Hazel Chapman
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Alruiz JM, Peralta-Maraver I, Bozinovic F, Santos M, Rezende EL. Temperature adaptation and its impact on the shape of performance curves in Drosophila populations. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230507. [PMID: 37161321 PMCID: PMC10170199 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding how species adapt to different temperatures is crucial to predict their response to global warming, and thermal performance curves (TPCs) have been employed recurrently to study this topic. Nevertheless, fundamental questions regarding how thermodynamic constraints and evolution interact to shape TPCs in lineages inhabiting different environments remain unanswered. Here, we study Drosophila simulans along a latitudinal gradient spanning 3000 km to test opposing hypotheses based on thermodynamic constrains (hotter-is-better) versus biochemical adaptation (jack-of-all-temperatures) as primary determinants of TPCs variation across populations. We compare thermal responses in metabolic rate and the egg-to-adult survival as descriptors of organismal performance and fitness, respectively, and show that different descriptors of TPCs vary in tandem with mean environmental temperatures, providing strong support to hotter-is-better. Thermodynamic constraints also resulted in a strong negative association between maximum performance and thermal breadth. Lastly, we show that descriptors of TPCs for metabolism and egg-to-adult survival are highly correlated, providing evidence of co-adaptation, and that curves for egg-to-adult survival are systematically narrower and displaced toward lower temperatures. Taken together, our results support the pervasive role of thermodynamics constraining thermal responses in Drosophila populations along a latitudinal gradient, that are only partly compensated by evolutionary adaptation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- José M. Alruiz
- Departamento de Ecología, Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 6513677, Chile
| | - Ignacio Peralta-Maraver
- Departamento de Ecología e Instituto del Agua, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Research Unit Modeling Nature (MNat), Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Francisco Bozinovic
- Departamento de Ecología, Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 6513677, Chile
| | - Mauro Santos
- Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Grup de Genòmica, Bioinformàtica i Biología Evolutiva (GBBE), Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Enrico L. Rezende
- Departamento de Ecología, Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 6513677, Chile
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Wilson Brown MK, Josephs EB. Evaluating niche changes during invasion with seasonal models in Capsella bursa-pastoris. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2023; 110:1-11. [PMID: 36758170 PMCID: PMC10088061 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE Researchers often use ecological niche models to predict where species might establish and persist under future or novel climate conditions. However, these predictive methods assume species have stable niches across time and space. Furthermore, ignoring the time of occurrence data can obscure important information about species reproduction and ultimately fitness. Here, we assess compare ecological niche models generated from full-year averages to seasonal models. METHODS In this study, we generate full-year and monthly ecological niche models for Capsella bursa-pastoris in Europe and North America to see if we can detect changes in the seasonal niche of the species after long-distance dispersal. RESULTS We find full-year ecological niche models have low transferability across continents and there are continental differences in the climate conditions that influence the distribution of C. bursa-pastoris. Monthly models have greater predictive accuracy than full-year models in cooler seasons, but no monthly models can predict North American summer occurrences very well. CONCLUSIONS The relative predictive ability of European monthly models compared to North American monthly models suggests a change in the seasonal timing between the native range to the non-native range. These results highlight the utility of ecological niche models at finer temporal scales in predicting species distributions and unmasking subtle patterns of evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maya K Wilson Brown
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
- Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
| | - Emily B Josephs
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
- Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Liu YY, Yang QF, Li Z, Zhou ZX, Shi XP, Wang YJ. Parallel genetic and phenotypic differentiation of Erigeron annuus invasion in China. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 13:994367. [PMID: 36684796 PMCID: PMC9845934 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.994367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The factors that determine the growth and spread advantages of an alien plant during the invasion process remain open to debate. The genetic diversity and differentiation of an invasive plant population might be closely related to its growth adaptation and spread in the introduced range. However, little is known about whether phenotypic and genetic variation in invasive plant populations covary during the invasion process along invaded geographic distances. METHODS In a wild experiment, we examined the genetic variation in populations of the aggressively invasive species Erigeron annuus at different geographical distances from the first recorded point of introduction (FRPI) in China. We also measured growth traits in the wild and common garden experiments, and the coefficient of variation (CV) of populations in the common garden experiments. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION We found that E. annuus populations had better growth performance (i.e., height and biomass) and genetic diversity, and less trait variation, in the long-term introduced region (east) than in the short-term introduced region (west). Furthermore, population growth performance was significantly positively or negatively correlated with genetic diversity or genetic variation. Our results indicate that there was parallel genetic and phenotypic differentiation along the invaded geographic distance in response to adaptation and spread, and populations that entered introduced regions earlier had consistently high genetic diversity and high growth dominance. Growth and reproduction traits can be used as reliable predictors of the adaptation and genetic variation of invasive plants.
Collapse
|
5
|
Coughlin AO, Wooliver R, Sheth SN. Populations of western North American monkeyflowers accrue niche breadth primarily via genotypic divergence in environmental optima. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9434. [PMID: 36284518 PMCID: PMC9587463 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2022] [Revised: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 10/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Niche breadth, the range of environments that individuals, populations, and species can tolerate, is a fundamental ecological and evolutionary property, yet few studies have examined how niche breadth is partitioned across biological scales. We use a published dataset of thermal performance for a single population from each of 10 closely related species of western North American monkeyflowers (genus Mimulus) to investigate whether populations achieve broad thermal niches through general purpose genotypes, specialized genotypes with divergent environmental optima, and/or variation among genotypes in the degree of generalization. We found the strongest relative support for the hypothesis that populations with greater genetic variation for thermal optimum had broader thermal niches, and for every unit increase in among‐family variance in thermal optimum, population‐level thermal breadth increased by 0.508°C. While the niche breadth of a single genotype represented up to 86% of population‐level niche breadth, genotype‐level niche breadth had a weaker positive effect on population‐level breadth, with every 1°C increase in genotypic thermal breadth resulting in a 0.062°C increase in population breadth. Genetic variation for thermal breadth was not predictive of population‐level thermal breadth. These findings suggest that populations of Mimulus species have achieved broad thermal niches primarily through genotypes with divergent thermal optima and to a lesser extent via general‐purpose genotypes. Future work examining additional biological hierarchies would provide a more comprehensive understanding of how niche breadth partitioning impacts the vulnerabilities of individuals, populations, and species to environmental change.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aeran O. Coughlin
- Department of Plant and Microbial BiologyNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA,Present address:
Department of BiologyDuke UniversityDurhamNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Rachel Wooliver
- Department of Plant and Microbial BiologyNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA,Present address:
Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil ScienceUniversity of TennesseeKnoxvilleTennesseeUSA
| | - Seema N. Sheth
- Department of Plant and Microbial BiologyNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Wooliver R, Vtipilthorpe EE, Wiegmann AM, Sheth SN. A viewpoint on ecological and evolutionary study of plant thermal performance curves in a warming world. AOB PLANTS 2022; 14:plac016. [PMID: 35615255 PMCID: PMC9126585 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plac016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
We can understand the ecology and evolution of plant thermal niches through thermal performance curves (TPCs), which are unimodal, continuous reaction norms of performance across a temperature gradient. Though there are numerous plant TPC studies, plants remain under-represented in syntheses of TPCs. Further, few studies quantify plant TPCs from fitness-based measurements (i.e. growth, survival and reproduction at the individual level and above), limiting our ability to draw conclusions from the existing literature about plant thermal adaptation. We describe recent plant studies that use a fitness-based TPC approach to test fundamental ecological and evolutionary hypotheses, some of which have uncovered key drivers of climate change responses. Then, we outline three conceptual questions in ecology and evolutionary biology for future plant TPC studies: (i) Do populations and species harbour genetic variation for TPCs? (ii) Do plant TPCs exhibit plastic responses to abiotic and biotic factors? (iii) Do fitness-based TPCs scale up to population-level thermal niches? Moving forward, plant ecologists and evolutionary biologists can capitalize on TPCs to understand how plasticity and adaptation will influence plant responses to climate change.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Wooliver
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Emma E Vtipilthorpe
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Amelia M Wiegmann
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Seema N Sheth
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| |
Collapse
|