Less pollen-mediated gene flow for more signatures of glacial lineages: congruent evidence from balsam fir cpDNA and mtDNA for multiple refugia in eastern and central North America

Future carbon sequestration potential in a widespread transcontinental boreal tree species: Standing genetic variation matters!

Climate change (CC) necessitates reforestation/afforestation programs to mitigate its impacts and maximize carbon sequestration. But comprehending how tree growth, a proxy for fitness and resilience, responds to CC is critical to maximize these programs' effectiveness. Variability in tree response to CC across populations can notably be influenced by the standing genetic variation encompassing both neutral and adaptive genetic diversity. Here, a framework is proposed to assess tree growth potential at the population scale while accounting for standing genetic variation. We applied this framework to black spruce (BS, Picea mariana [Mill] B.S.P.), with the objectives to (1) determine the key climate variables having impacted BS growth response from 1974 to 2019, (2) examine the relative roles of local adaptation and the phylogeographic structure in this response, and (3) project BS growth under two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways while taking standing genetic variation into account. We modeled growth using a machine learning algorithm trained with dendroecological and genetic data obtained from over 2600 trees (62 populations divided in three genetic clusters) in four 48-year-old common gardens, and simulated growth until year 2100 at the common garden locations. Our study revealed that high summer and autumn temperatures negatively impacted BS growth. As a consequence of warming, this species is projected to experience a decline in growth by the end of the century, suggesting maladaptation to anticipated CC and a potential threat to its carbon sequestration capacity. This being said, we observed a clear difference in response to CC within and among genetic clusters, with the western cluster being more impacted than the central and eastern clusters. Our results show that intraspecific genetic variation, notably associated with the phylogeographic structure, must be considered when estimating the response of widespread species to CC.

Molecular characterisation of Pinus sylvestris (L.) in Ireland at the western limit of the species distribution

BACKGROUND

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) underwent significant population declines across much of northwest Europe during the mid-to-late Holocene and was thought to have become extirpated in Ireland from about 400 AD. However, most extant populations are plantations reintroduced from Scotland. Others are naturalised therefrom and one in Western Ireland is a putative relict. In this paper, Scots pine in Ireland are genetically described for the first time.

RESULTS

Using two mitochondrial (mtDNA) loci, eight chloroplast (cpSSR) and 18 nuclear (nSSR) loci, the genetic composition and diversity of 19 Irish Scots pine populations is described and compared to other European populations. All trees sampled in Ireland were fixed for mitotype a, which is the most common across northwest Europe. By contrast, cpSSR (HCP = 0.967) and nSSR (He = 0.540) variation was high, and comparable with estimates for other regions across the species range. Differentiation at both sets of loci were similarly low (cpSSR FST = 0.019; nSSR FST = 0.018), but populations from continental Europe were significantly differentiated from all Irish populations based on nSSR variation.

CONCLUSIONS

All Irish Scots pine are likely part of a common Irish-Scottish gene pool which diverged from continental Scots pine following post-glacial recolonisation. A high genetic diversity and an absence of evidence of inbreeding suggests the regional decline of Scots pine did not critically reduce allelic variation. The post-glacial relationship between Irish and Scottish pine is discussed, and a suggestion from recent palaeoecological work that reintroduced Scots pine be managed as a native species is now further supported by genetic data.

Glacial Expansion or Interglacial Expansion? Contrasting Demographic Models of Four Cold-Adapted Fir Species in North America and East Asia

Understanding and forecasting species’ response to climate change is a critical need for future conservation and management. Two expansion hypotheses, the glacial expansion versus the interglacial expansion, have been proposed to interpret how cold-adapted organisms in the northern hemisphere respond to Quaternary climatic fluctuations. To test these two hypotheses, we originally used two pairs of high-low elevation firs from North America (Abies lasiocarpa and Abies balsamea) and East Asia (Abies chensiensis and Abies nephrolepis). Abies lasiocarpa and Abies chensiensis are widely distributed in high-elevation regions of western North America and central China. Abies balsamea and Abies nephrolepis occur in central North America and northeast China, with much lower elevations. These fir species are typical cold-adapted species and sensitive to climate fluctuations. Here, we integrated the mtDNA and cpDNA polymorphisms involving 44 populations and 585 individuals. Based on phylogeographic analyses, recent historical range expansions were indicated in two high-elevation firs (Abies lasiocarpa and Abies chensiensis) during the last glaciation (43.8–28.4 or 21.9–14.2 kya, 53.1–34.5 or 26.6–17.2 kya). Such glacial expansions in high-elevation firs were further confirmed by the evidence of species distribution modelling, geographic-driven genetic patterns, palynological records, and current distribution patterns. Unlike the north American firs, the SDM models indicated unremarkable expansion or contraction in East Asia firs for its much more stable conditions during different historical periods. Taken together, our findings highly supported that high-elevation firs experienced glacial expansion during the Quaternary climate change in East Asia and North America, as interglacial expansion within low-elevation firs. Under this situation, the critically endangered fir species distributed in high elevation would have no enough higher elevational space to migrate. Facing the increasing global warming, thus we proposed ex-situ conservation of defining conservation units as the most meaningful strategy.

Continent-wide population genomic structure and phylogeography of North America's most destructive conifer defoliator, the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana)

The spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, is presumed to be panmictic across vast regions of North America. We examined the extent of panmixia by genotyping 3,650 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci in 1975 individuals from 128 collections across the continent. We found three spatially structured subpopulations: Western (Alaska, Yukon), Central (southeastern Yukon to the Manitoba-Ontario border), and Eastern (Manitoba-Ontario border to the Atlantic). Additionally, the most diagnostic genetic differentiation between the Central and Eastern subpopulations was chromosomally restricted to a single block of SNPs that may constitute an island of differentiation within the species. Geographic differentiation in the spruce budworm parallels that of its principal larval host, white spruce (Picea glauca), providing evidence that spruce budworm and spruce trees survived in the Beringian refugium through the Last Glacial Maximum and that at least two isolated spruce budworm populations diverged with spruce/fir south of the ice sheets. Gene flow in the spruce budworm may also be affected by mountains in western North America, habitat isolation in West Virginia, regional adaptations, factors related to dispersal, and proximity of other species in the spruce budworm species complex. The central and eastern geographic regions contain individuals that assign to Eastern and Central subpopulations, respectively, indicating that these barriers are not complete. Our discovery of previously undetected geographic and genomic structure in the spruce budworm suggests that further population modelling of this ecologically important insect should consider regional differentiation, potentially co-adapted blocks of genes, and gene flow between subpopulations.

Responses of bud-break phenology to daily-asymmetric warming: daytime warming intensifies the advancement of bud break

There is evidence that the ongoing climate change is happening through nighttime rather than daytime warming. How such a daily-asymmetric warming modifies plant phenology is still unclear. We investigated the effects of asymmetric warming on bud break by daily monitoring seedlings belonging to 26 black spruce [Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP.] and 15 balsam fir [Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.] provenances from the native range in Canada. Seedlings were subjected to either daytime or nighttime warming in three growth chambers at temperatures ranging between 10 and 24 °C. On average, a warming of 4 °C advanced the timings of bud break in both species by 2.4 days, with the later phases being more sensitive to the treatment. Bud break of both species responded more strongly to daytime warming, with the bud break occurred 1.2 and 3.2 days earlier under daytime than nighttime warming in black spruce and balsam fir, respectively. A marked ecotypic differentiation was only observed in black spruce that originated from provenances distributed broadly across Canada, with seedlings from the warmest provenance completing bud break 8.3 days later than those from the coldest one. However, no significant effect of provenance was observed for balsam fir, the narrowly distributed species. Overall, the above results suggest that a higher temporal resolution such as temperatures during daytime and nighttime, and higher spatial resolution should be taken into account to improve the accuracy of phenological model predictions under global change scenarios. Phenological models based on daily average temperature should take into account the diverging impacts of asymmetric warming on plant phenology. Our findings may indicate that the influence of warming on plant phenology may be less dramatic than expected.

Postglacial migration and adaptation for dispersal in pitch pine (Pinaceae)

PREMISE OF THE STUDY

Variation in a species is a blend of adaptive, random, and migratory responses. Pitch pine (Pinus rigida), a highly variable eastern conifer, has occupied multiple glacial refugia, whose harsh conditions favored adaptations enhancing subsequent dispersal and recolonization of newly deglaciated sites. We assessed phenotypic diversity in long-term growth trials to elucidate both the adaptations and likely refugia.

METHODS

Pitch pine progeny from 31 areas were grown in common gardens in six locations, from eastern Massachusetts to Korea.

KEY RESULTS

Survival increased with source latitude, but seedlings from southern latitudes were tallest in the first (postplanting) year, but that advantage dissipated in later years. Progeny from northern latitudes were precocious, highly fecund, had smaller seeds, and more seeds per cone. Seed mass decreased with latitude in both parents and progeny. Serotinous cones were notably common in the New Jersey Pine Plains and Acadia National Park. Various disease agents and frost burn exhibited latitudinal trends that were nonlinear, with a break in the regression slope at about 40°N latitude. Cluster analysis identified both northern and southern groups, largely split between unglaciated and deglaciated terrain, but with Acadia and the Pine Plains as unique outliers. Within the southern group, provenances were organized into contiguous subgroups, but geographic structure was less evident in the northern group.

CONCLUSIONS

The present range of pitch pine was colonized by migrants from at least three different refugia, including at least one on the exposed continental shelf during the Last Glacial Maximum.