The role of changes in environmental quality in multitrait plastic responses to environmental and social change in the model microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Abstract Intraspecific variation plays a key role in species' responses to environmental change; however, little is known about the role of changes in environmental quality (the population growth rate an environment supports) on intraspecific trait variation. Here, we hypothesize that intraspec...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7179 |
| _version_ | 1818599765476114432 |
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| author | Ignacio J. Melero‐Jiménez Antonio Flores‐Moya Sinéad Collins |
| author_facet | Ignacio J. Melero‐Jiménez Antonio Flores‐Moya Sinéad Collins |
| author_sort | Ignacio J. Melero‐Jiménez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Intraspecific variation plays a key role in species' responses to environmental change; however, little is known about the role of changes in environmental quality (the population growth rate an environment supports) on intraspecific trait variation. Here, we hypothesize that intraspecific trait variation will be higher in ameliorated environments than in degraded ones. We first measure the range of multitrait phenotypes over a range of environmental qualities for three strains and two evolutionary histories of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in laboratory conditions. We then explore how environmental quality and trait variation affect the predictability of lineage frequencies when lineage pairs are grown in indirect co‐culture. Our results show that environmental quality has the potential to affect intraspecific variability both in terms of the variation in expressed trait values, and in terms of the genotype composition of rapidly growing populations. We found low phenotypic variability in degraded or same‐quality environments and high phenotypic variability in ameliorated conditions. This variation can affect population composition, as monoculture growth rate is a less reliable predictor of lineage frequencies in ameliorated environments. Our study highlights that understanding whether populations experience environmental change as an increase or a decrease in quality relative to their recent history affects the changes in trait variation during plastic responses, including growth responses to the presence of conspecifics. This points toward a fundamental role for changes in overall environmental quality in driving phenotypic variation within closely related populations, with implications for microevolution. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T12:24:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-56290f5dd1ba495c99d6a87cf95f6918 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T12:24:48Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-56290f5dd1ba495c99d6a87cf95f69182022-12-21T22:31:51ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582021-02-011141888190110.1002/ece3.7179The role of changes in environmental quality in multitrait plastic responses to environmental and social change in the model microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtiiIgnacio J. Melero‐Jiménez0Antonio Flores‐Moya1Sinéad Collins2Departamento de Botánica y Fisiología Vegetal Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Málaga Málaga SpainDepartamento de Botánica y Fisiología Vegetal Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Málaga Málaga SpainInstitute of Evolutionary Biology School of Biological Sciences University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UKAbstract Intraspecific variation plays a key role in species' responses to environmental change; however, little is known about the role of changes in environmental quality (the population growth rate an environment supports) on intraspecific trait variation. Here, we hypothesize that intraspecific trait variation will be higher in ameliorated environments than in degraded ones. We first measure the range of multitrait phenotypes over a range of environmental qualities for three strains and two evolutionary histories of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in laboratory conditions. We then explore how environmental quality and trait variation affect the predictability of lineage frequencies when lineage pairs are grown in indirect co‐culture. Our results show that environmental quality has the potential to affect intraspecific variability both in terms of the variation in expressed trait values, and in terms of the genotype composition of rapidly growing populations. We found low phenotypic variability in degraded or same‐quality environments and high phenotypic variability in ameliorated conditions. This variation can affect population composition, as monoculture growth rate is a less reliable predictor of lineage frequencies in ameliorated environments. Our study highlights that understanding whether populations experience environmental change as an increase or a decrease in quality relative to their recent history affects the changes in trait variation during plastic responses, including growth responses to the presence of conspecifics. This points toward a fundamental role for changes in overall environmental quality in driving phenotypic variation within closely related populations, with implications for microevolution.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7179carbon dioxidecarbon use efficiencyChlamydomonas reinhardtiienvironmental qualityintraspecific variationlight |
| spellingShingle | Ignacio J. Melero‐Jiménez Antonio Flores‐Moya Sinéad Collins The role of changes in environmental quality in multitrait plastic responses to environmental and social change in the model microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Ecology and Evolution carbon dioxide carbon use efficiency Chlamydomonas reinhardtii environmental quality intraspecific variation light |
| title | The role of changes in environmental quality in multitrait plastic responses to environmental and social change in the model microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii |
| title_full | The role of changes in environmental quality in multitrait plastic responses to environmental and social change in the model microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii |
| title_fullStr | The role of changes in environmental quality in multitrait plastic responses to environmental and social change in the model microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of changes in environmental quality in multitrait plastic responses to environmental and social change in the model microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii |
| title_short | The role of changes in environmental quality in multitrait plastic responses to environmental and social change in the model microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii |
| title_sort | role of changes in environmental quality in multitrait plastic responses to environmental and social change in the model microalga chlamydomonas reinhardtii |
| topic | carbon dioxide carbon use efficiency Chlamydomonas reinhardtii environmental quality intraspecific variation light |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7179 |
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