Dataset Information

Physiological and fitness differences between cytotypes vary with stress in a grassland perennial herb.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the consequences of polyploidization is a major step towards assessing the importance of this mode of speciation. Most previous studies comparing different cytotypes, however, did so only within a single environment and considered only one group of traits. To take a step further, we need to explore multiple environments and a wide range of traits. The aim of this study was to assess response of diploid and autotetraploid individuals of Knautia arvensis (Dipsacaceae) to two stress conditions, shade or drought.We studied eleven photosynthetic, morphological and fitness parameters of the plants over three years in a common garden under ambient conditions and two types of stress.The results indicate strong differences in performance and physiology between cytotypes in ambient conditions. Interestingly, higher fitness in diploids contrasted with more efficient photosynthesis in tetraploids in ambient conditions. However, stress, especially drought, strongly reduced fitness and disrupted function of the photosystems in both cytotypes reducing the between cytotype differences. The results indicate that drought stress reduced function of the photosynthetic processes in both cytotypes but particularly in tetraploids, while fitness reduction was stronger in diploids.The photosynthesis related traits show higher plasticity in polyploids as theoretically expected, while the fitness related traits show higher plasticity in diploids especially in response to drought. This suggests that between cytotype comparisons need to consider multiple traits and multiple environments to understand the breath of possible responses of different cytotypes to stress. They also show that integrating results based on different traits is not straightforward and call for better mechanistic understanding of the relationships between species photosynthetic activity and fitness. Still, considering multiple environments and multiple species traits is crucial for understanding the drivers of niche differentiation between cytotypes in future studies.

SUBMITTER: Pavlikova Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5708818 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Physiological and fitness differences between cytotypes vary with stress in a grassland perennial herb.

Pavlíková Zuzana Z Holá Dana D Vlasáková Blanka B Procházka Tomáš T Münzbergová Zuzana Z

PloS one 20171130 11

<h4>Background and aims</h4>Understanding the consequences of polyploidization is a major step towards assessing the importance of this mode of speciation. Most previous studies comparing different cytotypes, however, did so only within a single environment and considered only one group of traits. To take a step further, we need to explore multiple environments and a wide range of traits. The aim of this study was to assess response of diploid and autotetraploid individuals of Knautia arvensis ( ...[more]

PMID: 29190749

Similar Datasets

Project description:Invasive plants can negatively affect belowground processes and alter soil microbial communities. For native plants that depend on soil resources from root fungal symbionts (RFS), invasion could compromise their resource status and subsequent ability to manufacture and store carbohydrates. Herbaceous perennials that depend on RFS-derived resources dominate eastern North American forest understories. Therefore, we predict that forest invasion by Alliaria petiolata, an allelopathic species that produces chemicals that are toxic to RFS, will diminish plant carbon storage and fitness. Over a single growing season, the loss of RFS could reduce a plant's photosynthetic physiology and carbon storage. If maintained over multiple growing seasons, this could create a condition of carbon stress and declines in plant vital rates. Here we characterize the signals of carbon stress over a short timeframe and explore the long-term consequence of Alliaria invasion using Maianthemum racemosum, an RFS-dependent forest understory perennial. First, in a greenhouse experiment, we treated the soil of potted Maianthemum with fresh leaf tissue from either Alliaria or Hesperis matronalis (control) for a single growing season. Alliaria-treated plants exhibit significant overall reductions in total non-structural carbohydrates and have 17 % less storage carbohydrates relative to controls. Second, we monitored Maianthemum vital rates in paired experimental plots where we either removed emerging Alliaria seedlings each spring or left Alliaria at ambient levels for 7 years. Where Alliaria is removed, Maianthemum size and vital rates improve significantly: flowering probability increases, while the probability of plants regressing to non-flowering stages or entering prolonged dormancy are reduced. Together, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that disruption of a ubiquitous mutualism following species invasion creates symptoms of carbon stress for species dependent on RFS. Disruption of plant-fungal mutualisms may generally contribute to the common, large-scale declines in forest biodiversity observed in the wake of allelopathic invaders.

Project description:Grassland birds have exhibited dramatic and widespread declines since the mid-20th century. Greater prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) are considered an umbrella species for grassland conservation and are frequent targets of management, but their responses to land use and management can be quite variable. We used data collected during 2007-2009 and 2014-2015 to investigate effects of land use and grassland management practices on habitat selection and survival rates of greater prairie chickens in central Wisconsin, USA. We examined habitat, nest-site, and brood-rearing site selection by hens and modeled effects of land cover and management on survival rates of hens, nests, and broods. Prairie chickens consistently selected grassland over other cover types, but selection or avoidance of management practices varied among life-history stages. Hen, nest, and brood survival rates were influenced by different land cover types and management practices. At the landscape scale, hens selected areas where brush and trees had been removed during the previous year, which increased hen survival. Hens selected nest sites in hay fields and brood-rearing sites in burned areas, but prescribed fire had a negative influence on hen survival. Brood survival rates were positively associated with grazing and were highest when home ranges contained ≈15%-20% shrub/tree cover. The effects of landscape composition on nest survival were ambiguous. Collectively, our results highlight the importance of evaluating responses to management efforts across a range of life-history stages and suggest that a variety of management practices are likely necessary to provide structurally heterogeneous, high-quality habitat for greater prairie chickens. Brush and tree removal, grazing, hay cultivation, and prescribed fire may be especially beneficial for prairie chickens in central Wisconsin, but trade-offs among life-history stages and the timing of management practices must be considered carefully.

Dataset Information

Physiological and fitness differences between cytotypes vary with stress in a grassland perennial herb.

Publications

Physiological and fitness differences between cytotypes vary with stress in a grassland perennial herb.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets