A resurrection study reveals limited evolution of phenology in response to recent climate change across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower

Abstract Premise of the study As global climate change alters drought regimes, rapid evolution of traits that facilitate adaptation to drought can rescue populations in decline. The evolution of phenological advancement can allow plant populations to escape drought, but evolutionary responses in phe...

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Main Authors: Emma E. Vtipil, Seema Nayan Sheth
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-12-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7011
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spelling doaj-e23e112f0fd74675b9c2640eb18d69782021-06-04T07:10:38ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582020-12-011024141651417710.1002/ece3.7011A resurrection study reveals limited evolution of phenology in response to recent climate change across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflowerEmma E. Vtipil0Seema Nayan Sheth1Department of Plant and Microbial Biology North Carolina State University Raleigh NC USADepartment of Plant and Microbial Biology North Carolina State University Raleigh NC USAAbstract Premise of the study As global climate change alters drought regimes, rapid evolution of traits that facilitate adaptation to drought can rescue populations in decline. The evolution of phenological advancement can allow plant populations to escape drought, but evolutionary responses in phenology can vary across a species' range due to differences in drought intensity and standing genetic variation. Methods Mimulus cardinalis, a perennial herb spanning a broad climatic gradient, recently experienced a period of record drought. Here, we used a resurrection study comparing flowering time and stem height at first flower of pre‐drought ancestors and post‐drought descendants from northern‐edge, central, and southern‐edge populations in a common environment to examine the evolution of drought escape across the latitudinal range. Key results Contrary to the hypothesis of the evolution of advanced phenology in response to recent drought, flowering time did not advance between ancestors and descendants in any population, though storage condition and maternal effects could have impacted these results. Stem height was positively correlated with flowering time, such that plants that flowered earlier were shorter at first flower. This correlation could constrain the evolution of earlier flowering time if selection favors flowering early at a large size. Conclusions These findings suggest that rapid evolution of phenology will not rescue these populations from recent climate change. Future work is needed to examine the potential for the evolution of alternative drought strategies and phenotypic plasticity to buffer M. cardinalis populations from changing climate.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7011drought escapeErythrantheevolutionary rescueflowering timegeographic rangeMimulus
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Emma E. Vtipil
Seema Nayan Sheth
spellingShingle Emma E. Vtipil
Seema Nayan Sheth
A resurrection study reveals limited evolution of phenology in response to recent climate change across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower
Ecology and Evolution
drought escape
Erythranthe
evolutionary rescue
flowering time
geographic range
Mimulus
author_facet Emma E. Vtipil
Seema Nayan Sheth
author_sort Emma E. Vtipil
title A resurrection study reveals limited evolution of phenology in response to recent climate change across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower
title_short A resurrection study reveals limited evolution of phenology in response to recent climate change across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower
title_full A resurrection study reveals limited evolution of phenology in response to recent climate change across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower
title_fullStr A resurrection study reveals limited evolution of phenology in response to recent climate change across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower
title_full_unstemmed A resurrection study reveals limited evolution of phenology in response to recent climate change across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower
title_sort resurrection study reveals limited evolution of phenology in response to recent climate change across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower
publisher Wiley
series Ecology and Evolution
issn 2045-7758
publishDate 2020-12-01
description Abstract Premise of the study As global climate change alters drought regimes, rapid evolution of traits that facilitate adaptation to drought can rescue populations in decline. The evolution of phenological advancement can allow plant populations to escape drought, but evolutionary responses in phenology can vary across a species' range due to differences in drought intensity and standing genetic variation. Methods Mimulus cardinalis, a perennial herb spanning a broad climatic gradient, recently experienced a period of record drought. Here, we used a resurrection study comparing flowering time and stem height at first flower of pre‐drought ancestors and post‐drought descendants from northern‐edge, central, and southern‐edge populations in a common environment to examine the evolution of drought escape across the latitudinal range. Key results Contrary to the hypothesis of the evolution of advanced phenology in response to recent drought, flowering time did not advance between ancestors and descendants in any population, though storage condition and maternal effects could have impacted these results. Stem height was positively correlated with flowering time, such that plants that flowered earlier were shorter at first flower. This correlation could constrain the evolution of earlier flowering time if selection favors flowering early at a large size. Conclusions These findings suggest that rapid evolution of phenology will not rescue these populations from recent climate change. Future work is needed to examine the potential for the evolution of alternative drought strategies and phenotypic plasticity to buffer M. cardinalis populations from changing climate.
topic drought escape
Erythranthe
evolutionary rescue
flowering time
geographic range
Mimulus
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7011
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