Early life history responses and phenotypic shifts in a rare endemic plant responding to climate change

Abstract

We studied how a rare, endemic alpine cushion plant responds to the interactive effects of warming and drought. Overall, we found that both drought and warming negatively influenced the species growth but that existing levels of phenotypic variation may be enough to at least temporarily buffer populations.

Morphological Variation in Scarlet Plume (Euphorbia fulgens Karw ex Klotzsch, Euphorbiaceae), an Underutilized Ornamental Resource of Mexico with Global Importance

“…Endemic species are susceptible to climate change because their restricted distribution is associated with specific environmental conditions. Hence, more studies should be conducted to decipher the adaptations of the local endemic plants in different predicted environmental scenarios in order to establish concrete management plans, as in other endemic species [23,24].…”

“…On the other hand, some researchers have studied how diverse environmental factors, such as altitude, precipitation, physicochemical characteristics of soil, light intensity, hillside orientation, among others, contribute to phenotypic variation in different species as a result of the adaptation process in distinct habitats [17][18][19][20]. Most studies have assessed wild species of broad distribution, although some have been done on microendemic species as well because due to their restricted distribution, the morphometric variation associated with edaphoclimatic characteristics can be inferred under different environmental scenarios [21][22][23][24].…”