Regional differences in rapid evolution during severe drought
Abstract Climate change is increasing drought intensity, threatening biodiversity. Rapid evolution of drought adaptations might be required for population persistence, particularly in rear‐edge populations that may already be closer to physiological limits. Resurrection studies are a useful tool to...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Evolution Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.218 |
| _version_ | 1797761016434524160 |
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| author | Daniel N. Anstett Haley A. Branch Amy L. Angert |
| author_facet | Daniel N. Anstett Haley A. Branch Amy L. Angert |
| author_sort | Daniel N. Anstett |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Climate change is increasing drought intensity, threatening biodiversity. Rapid evolution of drought adaptations might be required for population persistence, particularly in rear‐edge populations that may already be closer to physiological limits. Resurrection studies are a useful tool to assess adaptation to climate change, yet these studies rarely encompass the geographic range of a species. Here, we sampled 11 populations of scarlet monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis), collecting seeds across the plants’ northern, central, and southern range to track trait evolution from the lowest to the greatest moisture anomaly over a 7‐year period. We grew families generated from these populations across well‐watered and terminal drought treatments in a greenhouse and quantified five traits associated with dehydration escape and avoidance. When considering pre‐drought to peak‐drought phenotypes, we find that later date of flowering evolved across the range of M. cardinalis, suggesting a shift away from dehydration escape. Instead, traits consistent with dehydration avoidance evolved, with smaller and/or thicker leaves evolving in central and southern regions. The southern region also saw a loss of plasticity in these leaf traits by the peak of the drought, whereas flowering time remained plastic across all regions. This observed shift in traits from escape to avoidance occurred only in certain regions, revealing the importance of geographic context when examining adaptations to climate change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:06:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-21f77bebfd3743858770e3e798a94664 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2056-3744 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:06:55Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Evolution Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-21f77bebfd3743858770e3e798a946642023-08-02T06:06:35ZengOxford University PressEvolution Letters2056-37442021-04-015213014210.1002/evl3.218Regional differences in rapid evolution during severe droughtDaniel N. Anstett0Haley A. Branch1Amy L. Angert2Biodiversity Research Centre and Department of Botany University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z4 CanadaBiodiversity Research Centre and Department of Botany University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z4 CanadaBiodiversity Research Centre and Department of Botany University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z4 CanadaAbstract Climate change is increasing drought intensity, threatening biodiversity. Rapid evolution of drought adaptations might be required for population persistence, particularly in rear‐edge populations that may already be closer to physiological limits. Resurrection studies are a useful tool to assess adaptation to climate change, yet these studies rarely encompass the geographic range of a species. Here, we sampled 11 populations of scarlet monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis), collecting seeds across the plants’ northern, central, and southern range to track trait evolution from the lowest to the greatest moisture anomaly over a 7‐year period. We grew families generated from these populations across well‐watered and terminal drought treatments in a greenhouse and quantified five traits associated with dehydration escape and avoidance. When considering pre‐drought to peak‐drought phenotypes, we find that later date of flowering evolved across the range of M. cardinalis, suggesting a shift away from dehydration escape. Instead, traits consistent with dehydration avoidance evolved, with smaller and/or thicker leaves evolving in central and southern regions. The southern region also saw a loss of plasticity in these leaf traits by the peak of the drought, whereas flowering time remained plastic across all regions. This observed shift in traits from escape to avoidance occurred only in certain regions, revealing the importance of geographic context when examining adaptations to climate change.https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.218Adaptationclimate changedehydration avoidancedehydration escapeErythranthe cardinalisflowering time |
| spellingShingle | Daniel N. Anstett Haley A. Branch Amy L. Angert Regional differences in rapid evolution during severe drought Evolution Letters Adaptation climate change dehydration avoidance dehydration escape Erythranthe cardinalis flowering time |
| title | Regional differences in rapid evolution during severe drought |
| title_full | Regional differences in rapid evolution during severe drought |
| title_fullStr | Regional differences in rapid evolution during severe drought |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regional differences in rapid evolution during severe drought |
| title_short | Regional differences in rapid evolution during severe drought |
| title_sort | regional differences in rapid evolution during severe drought |
| topic | Adaptation climate change dehydration avoidance dehydration escape Erythranthe cardinalis flowering time |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.218 |
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