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Ramirez-Parada TH, Park IW, Record S, Davis CC, Ellison AM, Mazer SJ. Plasticity and not adaptation is the primary source of temperature-mediated variation in flowering phenology in North America. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:467-476. [PMID: 38212525 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02304-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
Phenology varies widely over space and time because of its sensitivity to climate. However, whether phenological variation is primarily generated by rapid organismal responses (plasticity) or local adaptation remains unresolved. Here we used 1,038,027 herbarium specimens representing 1,605 species from the continental United States to measure flowering-time sensitivity to temperature over time (Stime) and space (Sspace). By comparing these estimates, we inferred how adaptation and plasticity historically influenced phenology along temperature gradients and how their contributions vary among species with different phenology and native climates and among ecoregions differing in species composition. Parameters Sspace and Stime were positively correlated (r = 0.87), of similar magnitude and more frequently consistent with plasticity than adaptation. Apparent plasticity and adaptation generated earlier flowering in spring, limited responsiveness in late summer and delayed flowering in autumn in response to temperature increases. Nonetheless, ecoregions differed in the relative contributions of adaptation and plasticity, from consistently greater importance of plasticity (for example, southeastern United States plains) to their nearly equal importance throughout the season (for example, Western Sierra Madre Piedmont). Our results support the hypothesis that plasticity is the primary driver of flowering-time variation along temperature gradients, with local adaptation having a widespread but comparatively limited role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tadeo H Ramirez-Parada
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
| | - Isaac W Park
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Sydne Record
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA
| | - Charles C Davis
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Aaron M Ellison
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Sound Solutions for Sustainable Science, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Susan J Mazer
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
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Hightower AT, Chitwood DH, Josephs EB. Herbarium specimens reveal links between Capsella bursa-pastoris leaf shape and climate. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.13.580180. [PMID: 38405842 PMCID: PMC10888959 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.13.580180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Studies into the evolution and development of leaf shape have connected variation in plant form, function, and fitness. For species with consistent leaf margin features, patterns in leaf architecture are related to both biotic and abiotic factors. However, for species with inconsistent leaf margin features, quantifying leaf shape variation and the effects of environmental factors on leaf shape has proven challenging. To investigate leaf shape variation in species with inconsistent shapes, we analyzed approximately 500 digitized Capsella bursa-pastoris specimens collected throughout the continental U.S. over a 100-year period with geometric morphometric modeling and deterministic techniques. We generated a morphospace of C. bursa-pastoris leaf shapes and modeled leaf shape as a function of environment and time. Our results suggest C. bursa-pastoris leaf shape variation is strongly associated with temperature over the C. bursa-pastoris growing season, with lobing decreasing as temperature increases. While we expected to see changes in variation over time, our results show that level of leaf shape variation is consistent over the 100-year period. Our findings showed that species with inconsistent leaf shape variation can be quantified using geometric morphometric modeling techniques and that temperature is the main environmental factor influencing leaf shape variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asia T Hightower
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, 612 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1226
- Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior Program, Michigan State University, 567 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI 48824-1226
- Plant Resilience Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1226
| | - Daniel H Chitwood
- Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, 1066 Bogue Street, East Lansing, MI 48824-1226
- Department of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, Michigan State University, 428 S Shaw Ln, East Lansing, MI 48824-1226
| | - Emily B Josephs
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, 612 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1226
- Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior Program, Michigan State University, 567 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI 48824-1226
- Plant Resilience Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1226
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3
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Lau JA, Funk JL. How ecological and evolutionary theory expanded the 'ideal weed' concept. Oecologia 2023; 203:251-266. [PMID: 37340279 PMCID: PMC10684629 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05397-8] [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: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023]
Abstract
Since Baker's attempt to characterize the 'ideal weed' over 50 years ago, ecologists have sought to identify features of species that predict invasiveness. Several of Baker's 'ideal weed' traits are well studied, and we now understand that many traits can facilitate different components of the invasion process, such as dispersal traits promoting transport or selfing enabling establishment. However, the effects of traits on invasion are context dependent. The traits promoting invasion in one community or at one invasion stage may inhibit invasion of other communities or success at other invasion stages, and the benefits of any given trait may depend on the other traits possessed by the species. Furthermore, variation in traits among populations or species is the result of evolution. Accordingly, evolution both prior to and after invasion may determine invasion outcomes. Here, we review how our understanding of the ecology and evolution of traits in invasive plants has developed since Baker's original efforts, resulting from empirical studies and the emergence of new frameworks and ideas such as community assembly theory, functional ecology, and rapid adaptation. Looking forward, we consider how trait-based approaches might inform our understanding of less-explored aspects of invasion biology ranging from invasive species responses to climate change to coevolution of invaded communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer A Lau
- Department of Biology and the Environmental Resilience Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
| | - Jennifer L Funk
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
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Kim AS, Kreiner JM, Hernández F, Bock DG, Hodgins KA, Rieseberg LH. Temporal collections to study invasion biology. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:6729-6742. [PMID: 37873879 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17176] [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: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 10/07/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Biological invasions represent an extraordinary opportunity to study evolution. This is because accidental or deliberate species introductions have taken place for centuries across large geographical scales, frequently prompting rapid evolutionary transitions in invasive populations. Until recently, however, the utility of invasions as evolutionary experiments has been hampered by limited information on the makeup of populations that were part of earlier invasion stages. Now, developments in ancient and historical DNA technologies, as well as the quickening pace of digitization for millions of specimens that are housed in herbaria and museums globally, promise to help overcome this obstacle. In this review, we first introduce the types of temporal data that can be used to study invasions, highlighting the timescale captured by each approach and their respective limitations. We then discuss how ancient and historical specimens as well as data available from prior invasion studies can be used to answer questions on mechanisms of (mal)adaptation, rates of evolution, or community-level changes during invasions. By bridging the gap between contemporary and historical invasive populations, temporal data can help us connect pattern to process in invasion science. These data will become increasingly important if invasions are to achieve their full potential as experiments of evolution in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy S Kim
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Julia M Kreiner
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Fernando Hernández
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Dan G Bock
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Kathryn A Hodgins
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Loren H Rieseberg
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Mayfield MM, Lau JA, Tobias JA, Ives AR, Strauss SY. What Can Evolutionary History Tell Us about the Functioning of Ecological Communities? The ASN Presidential Debate. Am Nat 2023; 202:587-603. [PMID: 37963115 DOI: 10.1086/726336] [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] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
AbstractIn January 2018, Sharon Strauss, then president of the American Society of Naturalists, organized a debate on the following topic: does evolutionary history inform the current functioning of ecological communities? The debaters-Ives, Lau, Mayfield, and Tobias-presented pro and con arguments, caricatured in standard debating format. Numerous examples show that both recent microevolutionary and longer-term macroevolutionary history are important to the ecological functioning of communities. On the other hand, many other examples illustrate that the evolutionary history of communities or community members does not influence ecological function, or at least not very much. This article aims to provide a provocative discussion of the consistent and conflicting patterns that emerge in the study of contemporary and historical evolutionary influences on community function, as well as to identify questions for further study. It is intended as a thought-provoking exercise to explore this complex field, specifically addressing (1) key assumptions and how they can lead us astray and (2) issues that need additional study. The debaters all agree that evolutionary history can inform us about at least some aspects of community function. The underlying question at the root of the debate, however, is how the fields of ecology and evolution can most profitably collaborate to provide a deeper and broader understanding of ecological communities.
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Mattingly KZ, Braasch BN, Hovick SM. Greater flowering and response to flooding in Lythrum virgatum than L. salicaria (purple loosestrife). AOB PLANTS 2023; 15:plad009. [PMID: 36994381 PMCID: PMC10041361 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plad009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Newly introduced trait diversity can spur rapid evolution and facilitate local adaptation in the introduced plant Lythrum salicaria. The horticultural plant L. virgatum might further introduce meaningful trait variation by escaping into established L. salicaria populations or by hybridizing with L. salicaria. Although many experiments have focused on L. salicaria genotypes, relatively little is known about L. virgatum ecology. We used a greenhouse common garden to compare traits and flood response of L. salicaria and L. virgatum collected from two sources each in their native range. We tested the hypotheses that these two wetland taxa have comparable responses to flooding (inundation), and that flood tolerance correlated to higher fitness. Flooding produced stronger stress responses in L. virgatum. Compared to L. salicaria, L. virgatum shifted more aboveground allocation away from reproduction, decreased inflorescence biomass by 40% more, and produced 7% more stem aerenchymatous phellum, a specialized tissue that maintains aeration. Despite these more pronounced responses to flooding stress, L. virgatum had higher fitness (inflorescence biomass and reproductive allocation) than L. salicaria. Overall, L. virgatum differed from L. salicaria in functionally important ways. Lythrum virgatum persisted under flooding and produced more reproductive biomass than L. salicaria under both flooded and non-flooded conditions. However, inundation stressed L. virgatum more than L. salicaria. Lythrum virgatum is likely able to establish into the wetland habitats in which L. salicaria prevails but may possess broader habitat tolerances.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Brenna N Braasch
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Stephen M Hovick
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
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Park JS, Post E. Seasonal timing on a cyclical Earth: Towards a theoretical framework for the evolution of phenology. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001952. [PMID: 36574457 PMCID: PMC9829184 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Phenology refers to the seasonal timing patterns commonly exhibited by life on Earth, from blooming flowers to breeding birds to human agriculture. Climate change is altering abiotic seasonality (e.g., longer summers) and in turn, phenological patterns contained within. However, how phenology should evolve is still an unsolved problem. This problem lies at the crux of predicting future phenological changes that will likely have substantial ecosystem consequences, and more fundamentally, of understanding an undeniably global phenomenon. Most studies have associated proximate environmental variables with phenological responses in case-specific ways, making it difficult to contextualize observations within a general evolutionary framework. We outline the complex but universal ways in which seasonal timing maps onto evolutionary fitness. We borrow lessons from life history theory and evolutionary demography that have benefited from a first principles-based theoretical scaffold. Lastly, we identify key questions for theorists and empiricists to help advance our general understanding of phenology.
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Affiliation(s)
- John S. Park
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Eric Post
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
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Sentis A, Hemptinne J, Magro A, Outreman Y. Biological control needs evolutionary perspectives of ecological interactions. Evol Appl 2022; 15:1537-1554. [PMID: 36330295 PMCID: PMC9624075 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 05/30/2024] Open
Abstract
While ecological interactions have been identified as determinant for biological control efficiency, the role of evolution remains largely underestimated in biological control programs. With the restrictions on the use of both pesticides and exotic biological control agents (BCAs), the evolutionary optimization of local BCAs becomes central for improving the efficiency and the resilience of biological control. In particular, we need to better account for the natural processes of evolution to fully understand the interactions of pests and BCAs, including in biocontrol strategies integrating human manipulations of evolution (i.e., artificial selection and genetic engineering). In agroecosystems, the evolution of BCAs traits and performance depends on heritable phenotypic variation, trait genetic architecture, selection strength, stochastic processes, and other selective forces. Humans can manipulate these natural processes to increase the likelihood of evolutionary trait improvement, by artificially increasing heritable phenotypic variation, strengthening selection, controlling stochastic processes, or overpassing evolution through genetic engineering. We highlight these facets by reviewing recent studies addressing the importance of natural processes of evolution and human manipulations of these processes in biological control. We then discuss the interactions between the natural processes of evolution occurring in agroecosystems and affecting the artificially improved BCAs after their release. We emphasize that biological control cannot be summarized by interactions between species pairs because pests and biological control agents are entangled in diverse communities and are exposed to a multitude of deterministic and stochastic selective forces that can change rapidly in direction and intensity. We conclude that the combination of different evolutionary approaches can help optimize BCAs to remain efficient under changing environmental conditions and, ultimately, favor agroecosystem sustainability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arnaud Sentis
- INRAEAix Marseille University, UMR RECOVERAix‐en‐ProvenceFrance
| | - Jean‐Louis Hemptinne
- Laboratoire Évolution et Diversité biologiqueUMR 5174 CNRS/UPS/IRDToulouseFrance
- Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi‐Pyrénées – ENSFEACastanet‐TolosanFrance
| | - Alexandra Magro
- Laboratoire Évolution et Diversité biologiqueUMR 5174 CNRS/UPS/IRDToulouseFrance
- Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi‐Pyrénées – ENSFEACastanet‐TolosanFrance
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