Higher resilience to climatic disturbances in tropical vegetation exposed to more variable rainfall

Ciemer, Catrin; Boers, Niklas; Hirota, Marina; Kurths, Jüergen; Mueller-Hansen, Finn; Oliveira, Rafael S.; Winkelmann, Ricarda

doi:10.1038/s41561-019-0312-z

Cited by 96 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The adaptive importance of freshwater limitation in tropical trees was also suggested in the mangrove, A. schaueriana (M. V. Cruz et al, 2018), and in tropical forests and savannas (Ciemer et al, 2019), for which it was similarly suggested that an environmental filtering mechanism driven by rainfall variability likely favored the survival of more drought resistant lineages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Molecular responses to freshwater limitation in the mangrove tree Avicennia germinans (Acanthaceae)

Cruz

Mori

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental variation along the geographical space can shape populations by natural selection. In the context of global warming and changing precipitation regimes, it is crucial to understand the role of environmental heterogeneity in tropical trees adaptation, given their disproportional contribution to water and carbon biogeochemical cycles. Here, we investigated how heterogeneity in freshwater availability along tropical wetlands has influenced molecular variations of the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans). A total of 57 trees were sampled at seven sites differing markedly in precipitation regime and riverine freshwater inputs. Using 2,297 genome‐wide single nucleotide polymorphic markers, we found signatures of natural selection by the association between variations in allele frequencies and environmental variables, including the precipitation of the warmest quarter and the annual precipitation. Additionally, we found candidate loci for selection based on statistical deviations from neutral expectations of interpopulation differentiation. Most candidate loci within transcribed sequences were functionally associated with central aspects of drought tolerance or plant response to drought. Moreover, our results suggest the occurrence of the rapid evolution of a population, probably in response to sudden and persistent limitations in plant access to soil water, following a road construction in 1974. Observations supporting rapid evolution included the reduction in tree size and changes in allele frequencies and in transcript expression associated with increased drought tolerance through the accumulation of osmoprotectants and antioxidants, biosynthesis of cuticles, protection against protein degradation, stomatal closure, photorespiration and photosynthesis. We describe a major role of spatial heterogeneity in freshwater availability in the specialization of this typically tropical tree.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Molecular responses to freshwater limitation in the mangrove tree Avicennia germinans (Acanthaceae)

Cruz

Mori

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We report species‐level hydraulic traits that contributed to the observed differences in forest drought responses. Our findings highlight the role of rainfall seasonality and interannual variability in precipitation as important filters selecting different hydraulic traits, strategies and taxa across rainforest sites, and complement analyses based on MAP differences alone (Choat et al ., ; Ciemer et al ., ). The dominant species at the high seasonality forest in the eastern Amazon (HSF) are more drought‐affiliated and exhibit hydraulic traits with higher embolism resistance (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic traits explain differential responses of Amazonian forests to the 2015 El Niño‐induced drought

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Reducing uncertainties in the response of tropical forests to global change requires understanding how intra‐ and interannual climatic variability selects for different species, community functional composition and ecosystem functioning, so that the response to climatic events of differing frequency and severity can be predicted. Here we present an extensive dataset of hydraulic traits of dominant species in two tropical Amazon forests with contrasting precipitation regimes – low seasonality forest (LSF) and high seasonality forest (HSF) – and relate them to community and ecosystem response to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) of 2015. Hydraulic traits indicated higher drought tolerance in the HSF than in the LSF. Despite more intense drought and lower plant water potentials in HSF during the 2015‐ENSO, greater xylem embolism resistance maintained similar hydraulic safety margin as in LSF. This likely explains how ecosystem‐scale whole‐forest canopy conductance at HSF maintained a similar response to atmospheric drought as at LSF, despite their water transport systems operating at different water potentials. Our results indicate that contrasting precipitation regimes (at seasonal and interannual time scales) select for assemblies of hydraulic traits and taxa at the community level, which may have a significant role in modulating forest drought response at ecosystem scales.

show abstract

“…Although most of these loci were poorly characterized, hampering inferences about their functional relevance in the environmental context, we were able to associate 11 candidates with biological processes influenced by drought, such as photosynthesis, cell wall metabolism, cell elongation, plant growth, protein protection from stress-induced degradation and regulation of ABA signalling (Table 3; Figure 4). The adaptive importance of freshwater limitation in tropical trees was also suggested in the mangrove A. schaueriana and in tropical forests and savannas (Ciemer et al, 2019), for which it was similarly suggested that an environmental filtering mechanism driven by rainfall variability probably favoured the survival of more drought resistant lineages.…”

Section: Gradual Environmental Variation In Freshwater Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 92%

Molecular responses to freshwater limitation in the mangrove tree Avicennia germinans (Acanthaceae)

Cruz

Mori

et al. 2019

Molecular Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental variation along the geographical space can shape populations by natural selection. In the context of global warming and changing precipitation regimes, it is crucial to understand the role of environmental heterogeneity in tropical trees adaptation, given their disproportional contribution to water and carbon biogeochemical cycles. Here, we investigated how heterogeneity in freshwater availability along tropical wetlands has influenced molecular variations of the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans). A total of 57 trees were sampled at seven sites differing markedly in precipitation regime and riverine freshwater inputs. Using 2,297 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphic markers, we found signatures of natural selection by the association between variations in allele frequencies and environmental variables, including the precipitation of the warmest quarter and the annual precipitation. Additionally, we found candidate loci for selection based on statistical deviations from neutral expectations of interpopulation differentiation. Most candidate loci within transcribed sequences were functionally associated with central aspects of drought tolerance or plant response to drought. Moreover, our results suggest the occurrence of the rapid evolution of a population, probably in response to sudden and persistent limitations in plant access to soil water, following a road construction in 1974. Observations supporting rapid evolution included the reduction in tree size and changes in allele frequencies and in transcript expression associated with increased drought tolerance through the accumulation of osmoprotectants and antioxidants, biosynthesis of cuticles, protection against protein degradation, stomatal closure, photorespiration and photosynthesis. We describe a major role of spatial heterogeneity in freshwater availability in the specialization of this typically tropical tree. K E Y W O R D SAvicennia germinans (Black Mangrove), drought-tolerance, ecological genomics, nextRAD, RNA-Seq, tropical tree | 345 CRUZ et al.

show abstract

Higher resilience to climatic disturbances in tropical vegetation exposed to more variable rainfall

Cited by 96 publications

References 47 publications

Molecular responses to freshwater limitation in the mangrove tree Avicennia germinans (Acanthaceae)

Molecular responses to freshwater limitation in the mangrove tree Avicennia germinans (Acanthaceae)

Hydraulic traits explain differential responses of Amazonian forests to the 2015 El Niño‐induced drought

Molecular responses to freshwater limitation in the mangrove tree Avicennia germinans (Acanthaceae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About