Is the Success of Plant Invasions the Result of Rapid Adaptive Evolution in Seed Traits? Evidence from a Latitudinal Rainfall Gradient

Molina‐Montenegro, Marco A.; Acuña‐Rodríguez, Ian S.; Flores, Tomás Simón M.; Hereme, Rasme; Lafon, Alejandra; Átala, Cristian; Torres-Díaz, Cristián

doi:10.3389/fpls.2018.00208

Cited by 42 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 79 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Due to human activities, the co‐occurrence of salt and water stresses has become increasingly common (Dale, Jager, Wolfe, & Efroymson, ), and they pose severe threats to natural ecosystems (Setter & Waters, ; Touhami et al, ). Rapid evolution has been identified as an important mechanism that facilitates exotic plant invasion (Molina‐Montenegro et al, ; Poll et al, ). Despite extensive studies on plants responses to single stress, experimental studies that focused on the responses to combined stresses are very limited (reviewed by Mahalingam, ), especially those concerning invasive species (Stoler, Sudol, Mruzek, & Relyea, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salt‐tolerant native plants have greater responses to other environments when compared to salt‐tolerant invasive plants

Liu

Liao

Shaolin

2019

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The strong expansion potential of invasive plants is often attributed to fast adaptive responses to stress. However, the evolution of tolerance to one stressor may affect the responses to other stressors. Currently, it remains unclear what effect the evolution to one stressor might have on the responses to other single or combined stressors. Moreover, it is unknown how this might differ between invasive and native species. Invasive plants ( Mikania micrantha and Bidens pilosa ) and native plants ( Merremia hederacea and Sida acuta ) from low‐ and high‐salinity habitats were grown under control and stressful conditions [salt stress, water stress (drought/waterlogging), and their combinations]. We explored the effects of evolved salt tolerance on the responses to water stress/combined stresses and the underlying trait mechanisms. The high‐salinity populations of all species exhibited stronger salt tolerance than the low‐salinity populations. As to the tolerance to other stressors, the high‐salinity and low‐salinity populations of the invasive species were similar, whereas the high‐salinity populations of the native species exhibited stronger tolerance than the low‐salinity populations under most stress treatments. However, the enhanced salt tolerance in native species was accompanied by reduced total biomass under control condition. The stress tolerance of native species correlated with leaf production rate and allocation to root, while the performance of native species under control condition correlated with leaf morphology and carbon assimilation rate. This suggests a trade‐off between salt tolerance and performance in the native but not the invasive species, probably resulting from altered phenotypic/physiological traits. Synthesis Our work suggests that the evolution of tolerance to one stressor may have stronger effects on the tolerance to other stressors of the native compared with the invasive species. This may be a new paradigm to explain the greater advantage of invasive vs. native species in highly stressful habitats.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salt‐tolerant native plants have greater responses to other environments when compared to salt‐tolerant invasive plants

Liu

Liao

Shaolin

2019

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Intraspecific trait variation is the occurrence of a genotype expressing various phenotypes in a given environment; it's a combination of genetic (i.e., evolution) and environmental factors reflected in the variation within populations (forming ecotypes) (Valladares et al, 2007(Valladares et al, , 2014Turcotte and Levine, 2016;Barbour et al, 2018). Measuring intraspecific trait variation allows for an indepth understanding of a species' ability to respond and adapt to environmental changes (Molina-Montenegro et al, 2018). In this review, we focus on the average trait expression (reflected in functional traits) change in a single species spanning a large continental gradient.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific Trait Variability in Andropogon gerardii, a Dominant Grass Species in the US Great Plains

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The climatic conditions in the North American Great Plains are highly variable, characteristic of an inter-continental climate. Antecedent climate history has impacted the flora of Great Plains grasslands, resulting in high species richness as well as dominance by only a few grass species, such as Andropogon gerardii. While the productivity of A. gerardii is well described, the individual physiological, and morphological characteristics that confer species dominance over wide spatial gradients are not clearly understood. We performed a literature search to assess intra-specific trait variability of A. gerardii from as many locations as possible. Ultimately, only 13 locations in the Great Plains have reported common plant functional traits (PFTs) for this species. To best represent site-specific climate conditions, plant functional trait data (8 PFTs) were collected from literature reporting ambient growing conditions, and excluded experimental manipulations. For most PFTs, we found insufficient data to fully quantify the range of variation across the geographical extent of A. gerardii dominance. This is surprising given that we focused on the most abundant grass in one of the most well-studied regions globally. Furthermore, trait data collected from our literature search showed a high degree of variability, but no strong relationships were observed between mean trait values and climate predictors. Our review of the literature on A. gerardii suggests a role for trait variability as a mechanism enabling the dominance of this species across large regions such as the Great Plains of North America.

show abstract

“…Several recent studies have shown that alien plants can undergo rapid evolution through trait adaptation to novel selection pressures (e.g. Molina-Montenegro et al 2018;van Boheemen et al 2019a;Lustenhouwer et al 2019;Brandenburger et al 2019a, b). Rapid trait adaptation may be driven by several processes; for example, the Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability (EICA) hypothesis posits that there is an evolutionary shift from costly defensive abilities to competitive performance in introduced populations, due to the absence of co-introduced specialist enemies (Blossey and Notzold 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trait differentiation between native and introduced populations of the invasive plant Sonchus oleraceus L. (Asteraceae)

Ollivier¹,

Kazakou²,

Corbin³

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is growing evidence that rapid adaptation to novel environments drives successful establishment and spread of invasive plant species. However, the mechanisms driving trait adaptation, such as selection pressure from novel climate niche envelopes, remain poorly tested at global scales. In this study, we investigated differences in 20 traits (relating to growth, resource acquisition, reproduction, phenology and defence) amongst 14 populations of the herbaceous plant Sonchus oleraceus L. (Asteraceae) across its native (Europe and North Africa) and introduced (Australia and New Zealand) ranges. We compared traits amongst populations grown under standard glasshouse conditions. Introduced S. oleraceus plants seemed to outperform native plants, i.e. possessing higher leaf and stem dry matter content, greater number of leaves and were taller at first flowering stage. Although introduced plants produced fewer seeds, they had a higher germination rate than native plants. We found strong evidence for adaptation along temperature and precipitation gradients for several traits (e.g. shoot height, biomass, leaf and stem dry matter contents increased with minimum temperatures, while germination rate decreased with annual precipitations and temperatures), which suggests that similar selective forces shape populations in both the native and invaded ranges. We detected significant shifts in the relationships (i.e. trade-offs) (i) between plant height and flowering time and (ii) between leaf-stem biomass and grain yield between native and introduced plants, indicating that invasion was associated with changes to life-history dynamics that may confer competitive advantages over native vegetation. Specifically, we found that, at first flowering, introduced plants tended to be taller than native ones and that investment in leaf and stem biomass was greater in introduced than in native plants for equivalent levels of grain yield. Our study has demonstrated that climatic conditions may drive rapid adaption to novel environments in invasive plant species.

show abstract

Is the Success of Plant Invasions the Result of Rapid Adaptive Evolution in Seed Traits? Evidence from a Latitudinal Rainfall Gradient

Cited by 42 publications

References 79 publications

Salt‐tolerant native plants have greater responses to other environments when compared to salt‐tolerant invasive plants

Salt‐tolerant native plants have greater responses to other environments when compared to salt‐tolerant invasive plants

Intraspecific Trait Variability in Andropogon gerardii, a Dominant Grass Species in the US Great Plains

Trait differentiation between native and introduced populations of the invasive plant Sonchus oleraceus L. (Asteraceae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About