Demographic responses of hybridizing cinquefoils to changing climate in the Colorado Rocky Mountains
Abstract Hybridization between taxa generates new pools of genetic variation that can lead to different environmental responses and demographic trajectories over time than seen in parental lineages. The potential for hybrids to have novel environmental tolerances may be increasingly important in mou...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10097 |
| _version_ | 1797357925446975488 |
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| author | Kelly A. Carscadden Daniel F. Doak Meagan F. Oldfather Nancy C. Emery |
| author_facet | Kelly A. Carscadden Daniel F. Doak Meagan F. Oldfather Nancy C. Emery |
| author_sort | Kelly A. Carscadden |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Hybridization between taxa generates new pools of genetic variation that can lead to different environmental responses and demographic trajectories over time than seen in parental lineages. The potential for hybrids to have novel environmental tolerances may be increasingly important in mountainous regions, which are rapidly warming and drying due to climate change. Demographic analysis makes it possible to quantify within‐ and among‐species responses to variation in climate and to predict population growth rates as those conditions change. We estimated vital rates and population growth in 13 natural populations of two cinquefoil taxa (Potentilla hippiana and P. pulcherrima) and their hybrid across elevation gradients in the Southern Rockies. Using three consecutive years of environmental and demographic data, we compared the demographic responses of hybrid and parental taxa to environmental variation across space and time. All three taxa had lower predicted population growth rates under warm, dry conditions. However, the magnitude of these responses varied among taxa and populations. Hybrids had consistently lower predicted population growth rates than P. hippiana. In contrast, hybrid performance relative to P. pulcherrima varied with population and climate, with the hybrid maintaining relatively stable growth rates while populations of P. pulcherrima shrank under warm, dry conditions. Our findings demonstrate that hybrids in this system are neither intrinsically unfit nor universally more vigorous than parents, suggesting that the demographic consequences of hybridization are context‐dependent. Our results also imply that shifts to warmer and drier conditions could have particularly negative repercussions for P. pulcherrima, which is currently the most abundant taxon in the study area, possibly as a legacy of more favorable historical climates. More broadly, the distributions of these long‐lived taxa are lagging behind their demographic trajectories, such that the currently less common P. hippiana could become the most abundant of the Potentilla taxa as this region continues to warm and dry. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:52:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8095625e4d9e44f896cc612d6f52f680 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:52:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-8095625e4d9e44f896cc612d6f52f6802024-01-11T02:50:01ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582023-07-01137n/an/a10.1002/ece3.10097Demographic responses of hybridizing cinquefoils to changing climate in the Colorado Rocky MountainsKelly A. Carscadden0Daniel F. Doak1Meagan F. Oldfather2Nancy C. Emery3Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USADepartment of Environmental Studies University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USADepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USADepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USAAbstract Hybridization between taxa generates new pools of genetic variation that can lead to different environmental responses and demographic trajectories over time than seen in parental lineages. The potential for hybrids to have novel environmental tolerances may be increasingly important in mountainous regions, which are rapidly warming and drying due to climate change. Demographic analysis makes it possible to quantify within‐ and among‐species responses to variation in climate and to predict population growth rates as those conditions change. We estimated vital rates and population growth in 13 natural populations of two cinquefoil taxa (Potentilla hippiana and P. pulcherrima) and their hybrid across elevation gradients in the Southern Rockies. Using three consecutive years of environmental and demographic data, we compared the demographic responses of hybrid and parental taxa to environmental variation across space and time. All three taxa had lower predicted population growth rates under warm, dry conditions. However, the magnitude of these responses varied among taxa and populations. Hybrids had consistently lower predicted population growth rates than P. hippiana. In contrast, hybrid performance relative to P. pulcherrima varied with population and climate, with the hybrid maintaining relatively stable growth rates while populations of P. pulcherrima shrank under warm, dry conditions. Our findings demonstrate that hybrids in this system are neither intrinsically unfit nor universally more vigorous than parents, suggesting that the demographic consequences of hybridization are context‐dependent. Our results also imply that shifts to warmer and drier conditions could have particularly negative repercussions for P. pulcherrima, which is currently the most abundant taxon in the study area, possibly as a legacy of more favorable historical climates. More broadly, the distributions of these long‐lived taxa are lagging behind their demographic trajectories, such that the currently less common P. hippiana could become the most abundant of the Potentilla taxa as this region continues to warm and dry.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10097climate changedemographyevolutionary ecologyhybridizationintegral projection models (IPMs)montane plants |
| spellingShingle | Kelly A. Carscadden Daniel F. Doak Meagan F. Oldfather Nancy C. Emery Demographic responses of hybridizing cinquefoils to changing climate in the Colorado Rocky Mountains Ecology and Evolution climate change demography evolutionary ecology hybridization integral projection models (IPMs) montane plants |
| title | Demographic responses of hybridizing cinquefoils to changing climate in the Colorado Rocky Mountains |
| title_full | Demographic responses of hybridizing cinquefoils to changing climate in the Colorado Rocky Mountains |
| title_fullStr | Demographic responses of hybridizing cinquefoils to changing climate in the Colorado Rocky Mountains |
| title_full_unstemmed | Demographic responses of hybridizing cinquefoils to changing climate in the Colorado Rocky Mountains |
| title_short | Demographic responses of hybridizing cinquefoils to changing climate in the Colorado Rocky Mountains |
| title_sort | demographic responses of hybridizing cinquefoils to changing climate in the colorado rocky mountains |
| topic | climate change demography evolutionary ecology hybridization integral projection models (IPMs) montane plants |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10097 |
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