Dataset Information

Adaptation of lodgepole pine and interior spruce to climate: implications for reforestation in a warming world.

ABSTRACT: We investigated adaptation to climate in populations of two widespread tree species across a range of contrasting environments in western Canada. In a series of common garden experiments, bud phenology, cold hardiness, and seedling growth traits were assessed for 254 populations in the interior spruce complex (Picea glauca, P. engelmannii, and their hybrids) and for 281 populations of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). Complex multitrait adaptations to different ecological regions such as boreal, montane, coastal, and arid environments accounted for 15-20% of the total variance. This population differentiation could be directly linked to climate variables through multivariate regression tree analysis. Our results suggest that adaptation to climate does not always correspond linearly to temperature gradients. For example, opposite trait values (e.g., early versus late budbreak) may be found in response to apparently similar cold environments (e.g., boreal and montane). Climate change adaptation strategies may therefore not always be possible through a simple shift of seed sources along environmental gradients. For the two species in this study, we identified a relatively small number of uniquely adapted populations (11 for interior spruce and nine for lodgepole pine) that may be used to manage adaptive variation under current and expected future climates.

SUBMITTER: Liepe KJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4721073 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Adaptation of lodgepole pine and interior spruce to climate: implications for reforestation in a warming world.

Liepe Katharina J KJ Hamann Andreas A Smets Pia P Fitzpatrick Connor R CR Aitken Sally N SN

Evolutionary applications 20160119 2

We investigated adaptation to climate in populations of two widespread tree species across a range of contrasting environments in western Canada. In a series of common garden experiments, bud phenology, cold hardiness, and seedling growth traits were assessed for 254 populations in the interior spruce complex (Picea glauca, P. engelmannii, and their hybrids) and for 281 populations of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). Complex multitrait adaptations to different ecological regions such as boreal, ...[more]

PMID: 26834833

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Project description:BackgroundLodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and interior spruce (Picea glauca, Picea engelmannii, and their hybrids) are distantly related conifer species. Previous studies identified 47 genes containing variants associated with environmental variables in both species, providing evidence of convergent local adaptation. However, if the intensity of purifying selection varies with the environment, clines in nucleotide diversity could evolve through linked (background) selection that would yield allele frequency-environment signatures resembling local adaptation. If similar geographic patterns in the strength of purifying selection occur in these species, this could result in the convergent signatures of local adaptation, especially if the landscape of recombination is conserved. In the present study, we investigated whether spatially/environmentally varying purifying selection could give rise to the convergent signatures of local adaptation that had previously reported.ResultsWe analyzed 86 lodgepole pine and 50 interior spruce natural populations spanning heterogeneous environments in western Canada where previous analyses had found signatures of convergent local adaptation. We estimated nucleotide diversity and Tajima's D for each gene within each population and calculated the strength of correlations between nucleotide diversity and environmental variables. Overall, these estimates in the genes with previously identified convergent local adaptation signatures had no similar pattern between pine and spruce. Clines in nucleotide diversity along environmental variables were found for interior spruce, but not for lodgepole pine. In spruce, genes with convergent adaption signatures showed a higher strength of correlations than genes without convergent adaption signatures, but there was no such disparity in pine, which suggests the pattern in spruce may have arisen due to a combination of selection and hybridization.ConclusionsThe results rule out purifying/background selection as a driver of convergent local adaption signatures in lodgepole pine and interior spruce.

Dataset Information

Adaptation of lodgepole pine and interior spruce to climate: implications for reforestation in a warming world.

Publications

Adaptation of lodgepole pine and interior spruce to climate: implications for reforestation in a warming world.

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