Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1002/ece3.10430
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Two common, often coexisting grassland plant species differ in their evolutionary potential in response to experimental drought
Author Madaj, A.-M.; Durka, W. ORCID logo ; Michalski, S.G.
Source Titel Ecology and Evolution
Year 2023
Department BZF; iDiv
Volume 13
Issue 9
Page From e10430
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cc2fqz6c4
Supplements https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1002%2Fece3.10430&file=ece310430-sup-0001-AppendixS1.pdf
Keywords drought; evolutionary potential; genetic variance–covariance matrix; phenotypic response; plants; response to selection
Abstract For terrestrial plant communities, the increase in frequency and intensity of drought events is considered as one of the most severe consequences of climate change. While single-species studies demonstrate that drought can lead to relatively rapid adaptive genetic changes, the evolutionary potential and constraints to selection need to be assessed in comparative approaches to draw more general conclusions. In a greenhouse experiment, we compare the phenotypic response and evolutionary potential of two co-occurring grassland plant species, Bromus erectus and Trifolium pratense, in two environments differing in water availability. We quantified variation in functional traits and reproductive fitness in response to drought and compared multivariate genetic variance–covariance matrices and predicted evolutionary responses between species. Species showed different drought adaptation strategies, reflected in both their species-specific phenotypic plasticity and predicted responses to selection indicating contrasting evolutionary potential under drought. In T. pratense we found evidence for stronger genetic constraints under drought compared to more favourable conditions, and for some traits plastic and predicted evolutionary responses to drought had opposing directions, likely limiting the potential for adaptive change. Our study contributes to a more detailed understanding of the evolutionary potential of species with different adaptive strategies in response to climate change and may help to inform future scenarios for semi-natural grassland ecosystems.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=27778
Madaj, A.-M., Durka, W., Michalski, S.G. (2023):
Two common, often coexisting grassland plant species differ in their evolutionary potential in response to experimental drought
Ecol. Evol. 13 (9), e10430 10.1002/ece3.10430