Climate and genome size shape the intraspecific variation in ecological adaptive strategies of a cosmopolitan grass species

TY - JOUR

T1 - Climate and genome size shape the intraspecific variation in ecological adaptive strategies of a cosmopolitan grass species

AU - Guo, Wen Yong

AU - Čuda, Jan

AU - Skálová, Hana

AU - Lambertini, Carla

AU - Pierce, Simon

AU - Lučanová, Magdalena

AU - Brix, Hans

AU - Meyerson, Laura A.

AU - Pyšek, Petr

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Functional Ecology © 2024 British Ecological Society.

PY - 2024/9

Y1 - 2024/9

N2 - Intraspecific trait variation, essential to Darwin's mechanism of natural selection, has been widely examined for single characters. However, intraspecific variation of adaptive strategies which represent trade-offs among multiple functional traits has received less attention, particularly for species that are globally distributed or invasive. Grime's competitor, stress tolerator and ruderal (CSR) scheme, well validated in the context of alien species invasions, provides both the theory and quantitative methodology to investigate adaptive strategies. Here, we quantified the intraspecific CSR strategy scores of a worldwide collection of 89 Phragmites australis genotypes which were cultivated in a common garden. We assessed the relationships between intraspecific variation in CSR strategy scores, genome size and climate of origin and tested whether the invasive and native lineages differ in CSR strategies. Substantial variation in intraspecific adaptive strategy, characterized mainly in C- and S-selection, was observed. As expected, C-, S- and R-scores showed clear latitudinal clines and were strongly related to either genome size or climate of origin. Furthermore, invasive lineages were more stress adapted than native lineages. We conclude that the adaptive strategy of this perennial wetland grass varies globally, and its genotypes are surprisingly more stress tolerant in the invaded range where it was first detected ~150 years ago. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

AB - Intraspecific trait variation, essential to Darwin's mechanism of natural selection, has been widely examined for single characters. However, intraspecific variation of adaptive strategies which represent trade-offs among multiple functional traits has received less attention, particularly for species that are globally distributed or invasive. Grime's competitor, stress tolerator and ruderal (CSR) scheme, well validated in the context of alien species invasions, provides both the theory and quantitative methodology to investigate adaptive strategies. Here, we quantified the intraspecific CSR strategy scores of a worldwide collection of 89 Phragmites australis genotypes which were cultivated in a common garden. We assessed the relationships between intraspecific variation in CSR strategy scores, genome size and climate of origin and tested whether the invasive and native lineages differ in CSR strategies. Substantial variation in intraspecific adaptive strategy, characterized mainly in C- and S-selection, was observed. As expected, C-, S- and R-scores showed clear latitudinal clines and were strongly related to either genome size or climate of origin. Furthermore, invasive lineages were more stress adapted than native lineages. We conclude that the adaptive strategy of this perennial wetland grass varies globally, and its genotypes are surprisingly more stress tolerant in the invaded range where it was first detected ~150 years ago. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

KW - adaptive evolution

KW - biological invasion

KW - Grime's adaptive strategy

KW - latitudinal cline

KW - Phragmites australis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85197662493&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/1365-2435.14613

DO - 10.1111/1365-2435.14613

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85197662493

SN - 0269-8463

VL - 38

SP - 2054

EP - 2066

JO - Functional Ecology

JF - Functional Ecology

IS - 9

ER -