TY - JOUR A1 - Romero-Mujalli, Daniel A1 - Rochow, Markus A1 - Kahl, Sandra M. A1 - Paraskevopoulou, Sofia A1 - Folkertsma, Remco A1 - Jeltsch, Florian A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Adaptive and nonadaptive plasticity in changing environments: Implications for sexual species with different life history strategies JF - Ecology and Evolution N2 - Populations adapt to novel environmental conditions by genetic changes or phenotypic plasticity. Plastic responses are generally faster and can buffer fitness losses under variable conditions. Plasticity is typically modeled as random noise and linear reaction norms that assume simple one-to- one genotype–phenotype maps and no limits to the phenotypic response. Most studies on plasticity have focused on its effect on population viability. However, it is not clear, whether the advantage of plasticity depends solely on environmental fluctuations or also on the genetic and demographic properties (life histories) of populations. Here we present an individual-based model and study the relative importance of adaptive and nonadaptive plasticity for populations of sexual species with different life histories experiencing directional stochastic climate change. Environmental fluctuations were simulated using differentially autocorrelated climatic stochasticity or noise color, and scenarios of directiona climate change. Nonadaptive plasticity was simulated as a random environmental effect on trait development, while adaptive plasticity as a linear, saturating, or sinusoidal reaction norm. The last two imposed limits to the plastic response and emphasized flexible interactions of the genotype with the environment. Interestingly, this assumption led to (a) smaller phenotypic than genotypic variance in the population (many-to- one genotype–phenotype map) and the coexistence of polymorphisms, and (b) the maintenance of higher genetic variation—compared to linear reaction norms and genetic determinism—even when the population was exposed to a constant environment for several generations. Limits to plasticity led to genetic accommodation, when costs were negligible, and to the appearance of cryptic variation when limits were exceeded. We found that adaptive plasticity promoted population persistence under red environmental noise and was particularly important for life histories with low fecundity. Populations produing more offspring could cope with environmental fluctuations solely by genetic changes or random plasticity, unless environmental change was too fast. KW - developmental canalization KW - environmental change KW - genetic accommodation KW - Individual-based models KW - limits KW - many-to-one genotype–phenotype map KW - noise color KW - phenotypic plasticity KW - reaction norms KW - stochastic fluctuations Y1 - 2020 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 11 IS - 11 PB - John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CY - New Jersey ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kahl, Sandra M. A1 - Lenhard, Michael A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha T1 - Compensatory mechanisms to climate change in the widely distributed species Silene vulgaris JF - The journal of ecology N2 - The adaptation of plants to future climatic conditions is crucial for their survival. Not surprisingly, phenotypic responses to climate change have already been observed in many plant populations. These responses may be due to evolutionary adaptive changes or phenotypic plasticity. Especially plant species with a wide geographic range are either expected to show genetic differentiation in response to differing climate conditions or to have a high phenotypic plasticity. We investigated phenotypic responses and plasticity as an estimate of the adaptive potential in the widespread species Silene vulgaris. In a greenhouse experiment, 25 European populations covering a geographic range from the Canary Islands to Sweden were exposed to three experimental precipitation and two temperature regimes mimicking a possible climate-change scenario for central Europe. We hypothesized that southern populations have a better performance under high temperature and drought conditions, as they are already adapted to a comparable environment. We found that our treatments significantly influenced the plants, but did not reveal a latitudinal difference in response to climate treatments for most plant traits. Only flower number showed a stronger plasticity in northern European populations (e.g. Swedish populations) where numbers decreased more drastically with increased temperature and decreased precipitation treatment. Synthesis. The significant treatment response in Silene vulgaris, independent of population origin - except for the number of flowers produced - suggests a high degree of universal phenotypic plasticity in this widely distributed species. This reflects the likely adaptation strategy of the species and forms the basis for a successful survival strategy during upcoming climatic changes. However, as flower number, a strongly fitness-related trait, decreased more strongly in northern populations under a climate-change scenario, there might be limits to adaptation even in this widespread, plastic species. KW - climate change KW - global change ecology KW - latitudinal gradient KW - local adaptation KW - phenotypic plasticity KW - plant performance KW - temperature increase Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13133 SN - 0022-0477 SN - 1365-2745 VL - 107 IS - 4 SP - 1918 EP - 1930 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - van Velzen, Ellen A1 - Thieser, Tamara A1 - Berendonk, Thomas U. A1 - Weitere, Markus A1 - Gaedke, Ursula T1 - Inducible defense destabilizes predator–prey dynamics BT - the importance of multiple predators JF - Oikos N2 - Phenotypic plasticity in prey can have a dramatic impact on predator-prey dynamics, e.g. by inducible defense against temporally varying levels of predation. Previous work has overwhelmingly shown that this effect is stabilizing: inducible defenses dampen the amplitudes of population oscillations or eliminate them altogether. However, such studies have neglected scenarios where being protected against one predator increases vulnerability to another (incompatible defense). Here we develop a model for such a scenario, using two distinct prey phenotypes and two predator species. Each prey phenotype is defended against one of the predators, and vulnerable to the other. In strong contrast with previous studies on the dynamic effects of plasticity involving a single predator, we find that increasing the level of plasticity consistently destabilizes the system, as measured by the amplitude of oscillations and the coefficients of variation of both total prey and total predator biomasses. We explain this unexpected and seemingly counterintuitive result by showing that plasticity causes synchronization between the two prey phenotypes (and, through this, between the predators), thus increasing the temporal variability in biomass dynamics. These results challenge the common view that plasticity should always have a stabilizing effect on biomass dynamics: adding a single predator-prey interaction to an established model structure gives rise to a system where different mechanisms may be at play, leading to dramatically different outcomes. KW - phenotypic plasticity KW - inducible defense KW - stability KW - synchronization KW - predator-prey dynamics Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.04868 SN - 0030-1299 SN - 1600-0706 VL - 127 IS - 11 SP - 1551 EP - 1562 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Latimer, Andrew M. A1 - Jacobs, Brooke S. A1 - Gianoli, Ernesto A1 - Heger, Tina A1 - Salgado-Luarte, Cristian T1 - Parallel functional differentiation of an invasive annual plant on two continents JF - AoB PLANTS N2 - Rapid local adaptation frequently occurs during the spread of invading species. It remains unclear, however, how consistent, and therefore potentially predictable, such patterns of local adaptation are. One approach to this question is to measure patterns of local differentiation in functional traits and plasticity levels in invasive species in multiple regions. Finding consistent patterns of local differentiation in replicate regions suggests that these patterns are adaptive. Further, this outcome indicates that the invading species likely responds predictably to selection along environmental gradients, even though standing genetic variation is likely to have been reduced during introduction. We studied local differentiation in the invasive annual plant Erodium cicutarium in two invaded regions, California and Chile. We collected seeds from across strong gradients in precipitation and temperature in Mediterranean-climate parts of the two regions (10 populations per region). We grew seeds from maternal families from these populations through two generations and exposed the second generation to contrasting levels of water and nutrient availability. We measured growth, flowering time and leaf functional traits across these treatments to obtain trait means and plasticity measures. We found strong differentiation among populations in all traits. Plants from drier environments flowered earlier, were less plastic in flowering time and reached greater size in all treatments. Correlations among traits within regions suggested a coordinated evolutionary response along environmental gradients associated with growing season length. There was little divergence in traits and trait intercorrelations between regions, but strongly parallel divergence in traits within regions. Similar, statistically consistent patterns of local trait differentiation across two regions suggest that local adaptation to environmental gradients has aided the spread of this invasive species, and that the formation of ecotypes in newly invaded environments has been relatively consistent and predictable. KW - Erodium cicutarium KW - flowering time KW - functional trait correlations KW - invasive species KW - life-history strategy KW - local adaptation KW - parallel evolution KW - phenotypic plasticity Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plz010 SN - 2041-2851 VL - 11 IS - 2 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - De Frenne, Pieter A1 - Brunet, Jorg A1 - Shevtsova, Anna A1 - Kolb, Annette A1 - Graae, Bente J. A1 - Chabrerie, Olivier A1 - Cousins, Sara Ao A1 - Decocq, Guillaume A1 - De Schrijver, An A1 - Diekmann, Martin A1 - Gruwez, Robert A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Hermy, Martin A1 - Nilsson, Christer A1 - Stanton, Sharon A1 - Tack, Wesley A1 - Willaert, Justin A1 - Verheyen, Kris T1 - Temperature effects on forest herbs assessed by warming and transplant experiments along a latitudinal gradient JF - Global change biology N2 - Slow-colonizing forest understorey plants are probably not able to rapidly adjust their distribution range following large-scale climate change. Therefore, the acclimation potential to climate change within their actual occupied habitats will likely be key for their short-and long-term persistence. We combined transplant experiments along a latitudinal gradient with open-top chambers to assess the effects of temperature on phenology, growth and reproductive performance of multiple populations of slow-colonizing understorey plants, using the spring flowering geophytic forb Anemone nemorosa and the early summer flowering grass Milium effusum as study species. In both species, emergence time and start of flowering clearly advanced with increasing temperatures. Vegetative growth (plant height, aboveground biomass) and reproductive success (seed mass, seed germination and germinable seed output) of A. nemorosa benefited from higher temperatures. Climate warming may thus increase future competitive ability and colonization rates of this species. Apart from the effects on phenology, growth and reproductive performance of M. effusum generally decreased when transplanted southwards (e. g., plant size and number of individuals decreased towards the south) and was probably more limited by light availability in the south. Specific leaf area of both species increased when transplanted southwards, but decreased with open-top chamber installation in A. nemorosa. In general, individuals of both species transplanted at the home site performed best, suggesting local adaptation. We conclude that contrasting understorey plants may display divergent plasticity in response to changing temperatures which may alter future understorey community dynamics. KW - climate change KW - common garden experiment KW - forest understorey KW - latitude KW - local adaptation KW - open-top chambers KW - phenotypic plasticity KW - pot experiment Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02449.x SN - 1354-1013 VL - 17 IS - 10 SP - 3240 EP - 3253 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wright, Justin P. A1 - Ames, Gregory M. A1 - Mitchelll, Rachel M. T1 - The more things change, the more they stay the same? When is trait variability important for stability of ecosystem function in a changing environment JF - Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences N2 - The importance of intraspecific trait variability for community dynamics and ecosystem functioning has been underappreciated. There are theoretical reasons for predicting that species that differ in intraspecific trait variability will also differ in their effects on ecosystem functioning, particularly in variable environments. We discuss whether species with greater trait variability are likely to exhibit greater temporal stability in their population dynamics, and under which conditions this might lead to stability in ecosystem functioning. Resolving this requires us to consider several questions. First, are species with high levels of variation for one trait equally variable in others? In particular, is variability in response and effects traits typically correlated? Second, what is the relative contribution of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity to trait variability? If local adaptation dominates, then stability in function requires one of two conditions: (i) individuals of appropriate phenotypes present in the environment at high enough frequencies to allow for populations to respond rapidly to the changing environment, and (ii) high levels of dispersal and gene flow. While we currently lack sufficient information on the causes and distribution of variability in functional traits, filling in these key data gaps should increase our ability to predict how changing biodiversity will alter ecosystem functioning. KW - biodiversity KW - intraspecific variation KW - ecosystem function KW - functional traits KW - phenotypic plasticity Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0272 SN - 0962-8436 SN - 1471-2970 VL - 371 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Carus, Jana A1 - Paul, Maike A1 - Schroeder, Boris T1 - Vegetation as self-adaptive coastal protection: Reduction of current velocity and morphologic plasticity of a brackish marsh pioneer JF - Ecology and evolution N2 - By reducing current velocity, tidal marsh vegetation can diminish storm surges and storm waves. Conversely, currents often exert high mechanical stresses onto the plants and hence affect vegetation structure and plant characteristics. In our study, we aim at analysing this interaction from both angles. On the one hand, we quantify the reduction of current velocity by Bolboschoenus maritimus, and on the other hand, we identify functional traits of B. maritimus’ ramets along environmental gradients. Our results show that tidal marsh vegetation is able to buffer a large proportion of the flow velocity at currents under normal conditions. Cross-shore current velocity decreased with distance from the marsh edge and was reduced by more than 50% after 15 m of vegetation. We were furthermore able to show that plants growing at the marsh edge had a significantly larger diameter than plants from inside the vegetation. We found a positive correlation between plant thickness and cross-shore current which could provide an adaptive value in habitats with high mechanical stress. With the adapted morphology of plants growing at the highly exposed marsh edge, the entire vegetation belt is able to better resist the mechanical stress of high current velocities. This self-adaptive effect thus increases the ability of B. maritimus to grow and persist in the pioneer zone and may hence better contribute to ecosystem-based coastal protection by reducing current velocity. KW - Adaptive value KW - Bolboschoenus maritimus KW - brackish marsh KW - flow velocity KW - mechanical pressure KW - morphological adaptation KW - phenotypic plasticity KW - pioneer zone Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1904 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 6 SP - 1579 EP - 1589 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER -