Climate change drives convergent evolution of root traits on Sky Island climate relicts

Scientific Reports - Climate change drives convergent evolution of root traits on Sky Island climate relicts

rdcu.be

Plant evolution and environmental variation create a geographic mosaic of predator-prey interactions and natural selection - Evolutionary Ecology

A major goal of ecology and evolutionary biology is to understand patterns of species interactions, their resulting natural selection and how these change across space and time. Studies show that variation in predator-prey interactions causes variation in natural selection on prey phenotypes. Other studies have shown that plant genetic variation can influence predator attack rates on prey. However, no study to our knowledge has linked these two phenomena to see if plant evolution can influence predator attack rates on prey, how predators cause natural selection on prey and how these patterns differ geographically. We studied a plant-gall-predator system in the wild across three tree sites spanning an elevation/climate gradient, across which trees have evolved in response to climate variation and other factors. We also worked in a common garden, in which trees were drawn from the same three wild sites. In the wild, attack by birds on galls was ~ 4x higher at the mid-elevation site compared to the low and high elevation sites. Further, birds selectively foraged on small galls, resulting in bird-mediated natural selection at the mid elevation, but not at the low and high elevation sites. In the common garden with respect to predator-prey interactions, we found similar patterns to the wild, providing evidence that evolved variation in the tree influenced attack rates by predators. In terms of natural selection, we found mixed evidence for the hypothesis that plant evolution would shape patterns of predator-caused natural selection on galls. Our findings broaden our understanding of geographic mosaics of community interactions and their resultant patterns of natural selection.

link.springer.com

Hybrid introgression as a mechanism of rapid evolution and resilience to climate change in a riparian tree species

Communications Biology - A long-term common garden experiment shows that hybrid introgression is associated with enhanced survival and increased resistance to selection pressures in warmer, drier...

rdcu.be

Genetic architecture of heritable leaf microbes | Microbiology Spectrum

We investigated how host genetic variation affects the assembly of Ipomoea hederacea’s natural microbiome. We found that the genetic architecture of leaf-associated microbiomes involves both quantitat...

journals.asm.org

Evolution of rarity and phylogeny determine above- and belowground biomass in plant-plant interactions

Rare species are often considered inferior competitors due to occupancy of small ranges, specific habitats, and small local populations. However, the phylogenetic relatedness and rarity level (level 1...

journals.plos.org

Landscape fragmentation overturns classical metapopulation thinking | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Habitat loss and isolation caused by landscape fragmentation represent a growing threat to global biodiversity. Existing theory suggests that the p...

pnas.org

Hunting sky islands for genetic clues to climate resilience

OPINION: Isolated mountaintops are hotbeds of evolutionary adaptation and great places to study how climate change affects ecosystems

knowablemagazine.org

Mapping the global distribution of C4 vegetation using observations and optimality theory - Nature Communications

Due to fundamental anatomical and biochemical differences, C3 and C4 plant species tend to differ in their biogeography and response to climate change. Here, the authors use global observations and op...

nature.com

Climate-driven divergence in plant-microbiome interactions generates range-wide variation in bud break phenology - Communications Biology

Ian Ware et al. use reciprocal plant population by soil location feedback experiments to show how the soil microbiomes of the narrowleaf cottonwood are influenced by genetic and environmental variatio...

nature.com

Assistant Professor of Applied Quantitative Ecology

The Ecology Department at Montana State University seeks applicants for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Applied Quantitative Ecology whose research uses cutting-edge quantitative approaches, inc...

jobs.montana.edu

Drought-Induced Civil Conflict Among the Ancient Maya - Nature Communications

The influence of climate on premodern civil conflict and societal instability is debated. Here, the authors combine archeological, historical, and paleoclimatic datasets to show that drought between 1...

nature.com

Belmont University Class Creates Sky Island Art - Sky Island Alliance

Inspired by conversations with Sarah J. Love, who gave a Coffee Break talk in November 2023 and who also happens to be my niece, I was recently introduced to Sky Island Alliance and their work in sout...

skyislandalliance.org

Divergent plant–soil feedbacks could alter future elevation ranges and ecosystem dynamics - Nature...

Variable plant–soil biotic interactions influence the migration and fragmentation of tree species, and models will need to incorporate soil parameters to more accurately predict future species distr...

nature.com

Stacked distribution models predict climate-driven loss of variation in leaf phenology at continenta...

Integrating stacked distribution models with genetically-based trait diversity of Populus angustifolia reveals how phenological variation can change differently across populations in response to clima...

nature.com