Dataset Information

North American tree migration paced by climate in the West, lagging in the East.

ABSTRACT: Tree fecundity and recruitment have not yet been quantified at scales needed to anticipate biogeographic shifts in response to climate change. By separating their responses, this study shows coherence across species and communities, offering the strongest support to date that migration is in progress with regional limitations on rates. The southeastern continent emerges as a fecundity hotspot, but it is situated south of population centers where high seed production could contribute to poleward population spread. By contrast, seedling success is highest in the West and North, serving to partially offset limited seed production near poleward frontiers. The evidence of fecundity and recruitment control on tree migration can inform conservation planning for the expected long-term disequilibrium between climate and forest distribution.

SUBMITTER: Sharma S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8784119 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

North American tree migration paced by climate in the West, lagging in the East.

Sharma Shubhi S Andrus Robert R Bergeron Yves Y Bogdziewicz Michal M Bragg Don C DC Brockway Dale D Cleavitt Natalie L NL Courbaud Benoit B Das Adrian J AJ Dietze Michael M Fahey Timothy J TJ Franklin Jerry F JF Gilbert Gregory S GS Greenberg Cathryn H CH Guo Qinfeng Q Hille Ris Lambers Janneke J Ibanez Ines I Johnstone Jill F JF Kilner Christopher L CL Knops Johannes M H JMH Koenig Walter D WD Kunstler Georges G LaMontagne Jalene M JM Macias Diana D Moran Emily E Myers Jonathan A JA Parmenter Robert R Pearse Ian S IS Poulton-Kamakura Renata R Redmond Miranda D MD Reid Chantal D CD Rodman Kyle C KC Scher C Lane CL Schlesinger William H WH Steele Michael A MA Stephenson Nathan L NL Swenson Jennifer J JJ Swift Margaret M Veblen Thomas T TT Whipple Amy V AV Whitham Thomas G TG Wion Andreas P AP Woodall Christopher W CW Zlotin Roman R Clark James S JS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20220101 3

Tree fecundity and recruitment have not yet been quantified at scales needed to anticipate biogeographic shifts in response to climate change. By separating their responses, this study shows coherence across species and communities, offering the strongest support to date that migration is in progress with regional limitations on rates. The southeastern continent emerges as a fecundity hotspot, but it is situated south of population centers where high seed production could contribute to poleward ...[more]

PMID: 34983867

Similar Datasets

Project description:Genetic variation in Arctic species is often influenced by vicariance during the Pleistocene, as ice sheets fragmented the landscape and displaced populations to low- and high-latitude refugia. The formation of secondary contact or suture zones during periods of ice sheet retraction has important consequences on genetic diversity by facilitating genetic connectivity between formerly isolated populations. Brant geese (Branta bernicla) are a maritime migratory waterfowl (Anseriformes) species that almost exclusively uses coastal habitats. Within North America, brant geese are characterized by two phenotypically distinct subspecies that utilize disjunct breeding and wintering areas in the northern Pacific and Atlantic. In the Western High Arctic of Canada, brant geese consist of individuals with an intermediate phenotype that are rarely observed nesting outside this region. We examined the genetic structure of brant geese populations from each subspecies and areas consisting of intermediate phenotypes using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence data and microsatellite loci. We found a strong east-west partition in both marker types consistent with refugial populations. Within subspecies, structure was also observed at mtDNA while microsatellite data suggested the presence of only two distinct genetic clusters. The Western High Arctic (WHA) appears to be a secondary contact zone for both Atlantic and Pacific lineages as mtDNA and nuclear genotypes were assigned to both subspecies, and admixed individuals were observed in this region. The mtDNA sequence data outside WHA suggests no or very restricted intermixing between Atlantic and Pacific wintering populations which is consistent with published banding and telemetry data. Our study indicates that, although brant geese in the WHA are not a genetically distinct lineage, this region may act as a reservoir of genetic diversity and may be an area of high conservation value given the potential of low reproductive output in this species.

Project description:Boreal forests are experiencing dramatic climate change, having warmed 1.0°-1.9°C over the last century. Yet forest regeneration practices are often still dictated by a fixed seed zone framework, in which seeds are both harvested from and planted into predefined areas. Our goal was to determine whether seedlings sourced from southern seed zones in Minnesota USA are already better adapted to northerly seed zones because of climate change. Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and northern red oak (Quercus rubra) seedlings from two seed zones (i.e., tree ecotypes) were planted into 16 sites in two northern seed zones and measured for 3 yr. Our hypotheses were threefold: (1) tree species with more southern geographic distributions would thrive in northern forests where climate has already warmed substantially, (2) southern ecotypes of these species would have higher survival and growth than the northern ecotype in northern environments, and (3) natural selection would favor seedlings that expressed phenotypic and phenological traits characteristic of trees sourced from the more southern seed zone. For both species, survival was high (>93%), and southern ecotypes expressed traits consistent with our climate adaptation hypotheses. Ecotypic differences were especially evident for red oak; the southern ecotype had had higher survival, lower specific leaf area (SLA), faster height and diameter growth, and extended leaf phenology relative to the northern ecotype. Bur oak results were weaker, but the southern ecotype also had earlier budburst and lower SLA than the northern ecotype. Models based on the fixed seed zones failed to explain seedling performance as well as those with continuous predictors (e.g., climate and geographical position), suggesting that plant adaptations within current seed zone delineations do align with changing climate conditions. Adding support for this conclusion, natural selection favored traits expressed by the more southern tree ecotypes. Collectively, these results suggest that state seed sourcing guidelines should be reexamined to permit plantings across seed zones, a form of assisted migration. More extensive experiments (i.e., provenance trails) are necessary to make species-specific seed transfer guidelines that account for climate trends while also considering the precise geographic origin of seed sources.

Dataset Information

North American tree migration paced by climate in the West, lagging in the East.

Publications

North American tree migration paced by climate in the West, lagging in the East.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets