Altitudinal genetic variation among native Pinus patula provenances: performance in two locations, seed zone delineation and adaptation to climate change

Abstract

To select the genetic source of Pinus patula Shiede and Deppe seed best adapted to different native zones for reforestation, seedlings of 12 provenances native to a selected altitudinal gradient in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, were planted on two sites at contrasting altitudes (high 3000 m above sea level (masl) and low, 2500 masl) within the species natural distribution, and tested for growth in height at age 18, 24 and 36 months. Differences among provenances and between sites showed significance (p<0.05). Seedling growth showed a climatic and altitudinal pattern, in which seedlings from populations originating in low-middle altitudes had higher growth than populations originating in high altitudes, and from the extreme low altitude limit. Results were used to delineate climatic and altitudinal seed zones for contemporary and future climate zones in the decade centered in year 2030, using the average results of six climate-emissions scenarios. The results indicate that splitting the region into four seed zones is appropriate under contemporary climate scenarios with the following altitude limits: Zone 1, from 2300 to 2500 masl; Zone 2, 2500 to 2700 masl; Zone 3, 2700 to 2900 masl and Zone 4 from 2900 to 3100 masl. The equivalence on climatic intervals was also defined for mean annual temperature, precipitation and an annual aridity index (AAI). Values of contemporary AAI occurring at a given altitude by year 2030 were determined, with results suggesting that populations should be shifted 200 to 250 m attitudinally upward, through a program of assisted migration, to realign them to the future climate for which they are adapted.

Genetic Variation in Abies religiosa for Quantitative Traits and Delineation of Elevational and Climatic Zoning for Maintaining Monarch Butterfly Overwintering Sites in Mexico, considering Climatic Change

“…Arrow indicates upward elevational movement required (350 m of elevational difference) to match a given mean temperature of coldest month value to which the population is adapted at present, but where this temperature will occur at a higher elevation in year 2030. -TALONIA et al, 2014). Most of those clines have been demonstrated in young seedlings in common garden tests, but there is also robust evidence of a strong age-age correlation between young seedlings grown in common garden tests with growth at older ages at field sites, when the latter are placed in optimal sites; see for example REHFELDT et al (2004).…”

“…Abies religiosa populations exhibit morphological differentiation for cone size and needle length along the elevational gradient (CASTELLANOS-ACUÑA et al, 2014). This differentiation is likely to have a genetic basis due to the selective force imposed by the climate gradient, as has been demonstrated for several conifers in North America and Mexico (some examples are: REHFELDT 1988;REHFELDT et al, 2014a;2014b;RUIZ-TALONIA et al, 2014;LOYA-REBOLLAR et al, 2013). At landscape level, it was found for A. religiosa that genetic variation in four amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) and three chloroplast microsatellites (cpSSRs) was correlated to environmental and geographic distances, indicating disruptive selection due to environmental differences (MÉNDEZ- GONZÁ-LEZ et al 2017).…”

“…Such information will inform decisions about the climate transfer distance (difference between the climate at seed source and climate of the target planting site; SÁENZ-ROMERO et al, 2017) over which it is safe to move the migrated germplasm. In mountain regions, where the suitable climatic habitat will occur in the future at higher elevations (LENOIR et al, 2008), elevational zonification for matching both contemporary and future projected climate is a useful management tool for matching the contemporary seed source with sites of suitable future climate (RUIZ-TALONIA et al, 2014). Genetic differentiation among populations along altitudinal gradients can be expressed in common garden tests (REHFELDT 1988;VITASSE et al, 2009) The objective of this study was to determine whether genetic variation exists among Abies religiosa populations originated from an elevational gradient and, if so, to delineate contemporary and future elevational/climate bands for use in a zonification to match contemporary genotypes with future climates.…”

Growth of Pinus cembroides Zucc. in Response to Hydroclimatic Variability in Four Sites Forming the Species Latitudinal and Longitudinal Distribution Limits

“…For instance, Pinus cembroides is so widely distributed that it has a high dendrochronological application because it forms cross-datable and annual tree rings [14], and it occupies sites with different climate conditions [15], as well as diverse topographies and soil types [14,[16][17][18]. For this reason, the wide geographic distribution of Pinus cembroides and its ecological amplitude provide an ideal opportunity to improve our understanding of the responses of its radial growth to hydroclimatic variability [19]. This study evaluates the association of Pinus cembroides to climate variables in radial growth in four sites forming the species' latitudinal and longitudinal distribution limits.…”

Phenotypic variation among natural populations of pines: implications for the management and conservation of genetic resources

“…Most of the Mexican pine species should have high genetic diversity, relatively low genetic differentiation among populations for neutral or nearly neutral markers (Galicia et al, 2015in Wehenkel et al 2017), e.g. P. oocarpa has high genetic diversity (Wehenkel et al 2017), and high genetic differentiation among populations along altitudinal gradients for adaptive traits, such as growth potential and frost resistance Loya-Rebollar et al 2013;Ruiz-Talonia et al 2014;) while many exceptions with low genetic diversity figures also exist, such as some endemics and taxa with fragmented distributions (e.g. P. greggii (Parraguirre Lezama et al 2002;Wehenkel et al 2017)).…”