Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1002/ece3.2183
Title (Primary) Plants adapted to warmer climate do not outperform regional plants during a natural heat wave
Author Bucharova, A.; Durka, W. ORCID logo ; Hermann, J.-M.; Hölzel, N.; Michalski, S.; Kollmann, J.; Bossdorf, O.
Source Titel Ecology and Evolution
Year 2016
Department BZF; iDiv
Volume 6
Issue 12
Page From 4160
Page To 4165
Language englisch
Keywords Adaptation to novel environment; assisted migration; climate warming; global change; local adaptation; predictive provenancing
UFZ wide themes RU1;
Abstract With ongoing climate change, many plant species may not be able to adapt rapidly enough, and some conservation experts are therefore considering to translocate warm-adapted ecotypes to mitigate effects of climate warming. Although this strategy, called assisted migration, is intuitively plausible, most of the support comes from models, whereas experimental evidence is so far scarce. Here we present data on multiple ecotypes of six grassland species, which we grew in four common gardens in Germany during a natural heat wave, with temperatures 1.4–2.0°C higher than the long-term means. In each garden we compared the performance of regional ecotypes with plants from a locality with long-term summer temperatures similar to what the plants experienced during the summer heat wave. We found no difference in performance between regional and warm-adapted plants in four of the six species. In two species, regional ecotypes even outperformed warm-adapted plants, despite elevated temperatures, which suggests that translocating warm-adapted ecotypes may not only lack the desired effect of increased performance but may even have negative consequences. Even if adaptation to climate plays a role, other factors involved in local adaptation, such as biotic interactions, may override it. Based on our results, we cannot advocate assisted migration as a universal tool to enhance the performance of local plant populations and communities during climate change.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=17469
Bucharova, A., Durka, W., Hermann, J.-M., Hölzel, N., Michalski, S., Kollmann, J., Bossdorf, O. (2016):
Plants adapted to warmer climate do not outperform regional plants during a natural heat wave
Ecol. Evol. 6 (12), 4160 - 4165 10.1002/ece3.2183