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Gya R, Geange SR, Lynn JS, Töpper JP, Wallevik Ø, Zernichow C, Vandvik V. A test of local adaptation to drought in germination and seedling traits in populations of two alpine forbs across a 2000 mm/year precipitation gradient. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9772. [PMID: 36778839 PMCID: PMC9905427 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2020] [Revised: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Seed regeneration is a critical stage in the life histories of plants, affecting species' abilities to maintain local populations, evolve, and disperse to new sites. In this study, we test for local adaptations to drought in germination and seedling growth of two alpine forbs with contrasting habitat preferences: the alpine generalist Veronica alpina and the snowbed specialist Sibbaldia procumbens. We sampled seeds of each species from four populations spanning a precipitation gradient from 1200 to 3400 mm/year in western Norway. In a growth chamber experiment, we germinated seeds from each population at 10 different water potentials under controlled light and temperature conditions. Drought led to lower germination percentage in both species, and additionally, slower germination, and more investment in roots for V. alpina. These responses varied along the precipitation gradient. Seeds from the driest populations had higher germination percentage, shorter time to germination, and higher investments in the roots under drought conditions than the seeds from the wettest populations - suggesting local adaption to drought. The snowbed specialist, S. procumbens, had lower germination percentages under drought, but otherwise did not respond to drought in ways that indicate physiological or morphological adaptions to drought. S. procumbens germination also did not vary systematically with precipitation of the source site, but heavier-seeded populations germinated to higher rates and tolerated drought better. Our study is the first to test drought effects on seed regeneration in alpine plants populations from high-precipitation regions. We found evidence that germination and seedling traits may show adaptation to drought even in populations from wet habitats. Our results also indicate that alpine generalists might be more adapted to drought and show more local adaptations in drought responses than snowbed specialists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ragnhild Gya
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of BergenBergenNorway
- Bjerknes Center for Climate ResearchBergenNorway
| | - Sonya Rita Geange
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of BergenBergenNorway
- Bjerknes Center for Climate ResearchBergenNorway
| | - Joshua Scott Lynn
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of BergenBergenNorway
- Bjerknes Center for Climate ResearchBergenNorway
| | | | - Øystein Wallevik
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of BergenBergenNorway
| | | | - Vigdis Vandvik
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of BergenBergenNorway
- Bjerknes Center for Climate ResearchBergenNorway
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Zhang LM, Roiloa SR, Zhang JF, Yu WH, Qiu CY, Wang DH, Yu FH. Clonal Parental Effects on Offspring Growth of Different Vegetative Generations in the Aquatic Plant Pistia stratiotes. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:890309. [PMID: 35832222 PMCID: PMC9272891 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.890309] [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: 03/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Parental (environmental) effects can modify the growth of offspring, which may play an essential role in their adaptation to environmental variation. While numerous studies have tested parental effects on offspring growth, most have considered offspring growth of only one generation and very few have considered offspring growth of different generations. We conducted a greenhouse experiment with an aquatic clonal plant Pistia stratiotes. We grew a single ramet of P. stratiotes under low or high nutrients, the initial (parent) ramets produced three different generations of offspring ramets, and these offspring ramets were also subjected to the same two nutrient levels. High nutrients currently experienced by the offspring increased biomass accumulation and ramet number of all three offspring generations of P. stratiotes. However, these positive effects on biomass were greater when the offspring ramets originated from the parent ramets grown under low nutrients than when they were produced by the parent ramets grown under high nutrients. These results suggest that parental effects can impact the performance of different offspring generations of clonal plants. However, heavier offspring ramets produced under high nutrients in parental conditions did not increase the subsequent growth of the offspring generations. This finding indicates that parental provisioning in favorable conditions may not always increase offspring growth, partly depending on root allocation but not ramet size such as ramet biomass.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Min Zhang
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| | - Sergio R. Roiloa
- BioCost Group, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universidade da Coruña, A Coruña, Spain
| | - Jia-Fan Zhang
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| | - Wen-Han Yu
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| | - Chen-Yan Qiu
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| | - Dan-Hao Wang
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| | - Fei-Hai Yu
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
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