Browsing by Subject "selection"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    The evolution of plant functional variation: traits, spectra, and strategies
    (University of Chicago Press, 2003) Reich, Peter B; Wright, I J; Cavender‐Bares, J; Craine, J M; Oleksyn, J; Westoby, M; Walters, M B
    Variation in plant functional traits results from evolutionary and environmental drivers that operate at a variety of different scales, which makes it a challenge to differentiate among them. In this article we describe patterns of functional trait variation and trait correlations within and among habitats in relation to several environmental and trade‐off axes. We then ask whether such patterns reflect natural selection and can be considered plant strategies. In so doing we highlight evidence that demonstrates that (1) patterns of trait variation across resource and environmental gradients (light, water, nutrients, and temperature) probably reflect adaptation, (2) plant trait variation typically involves multiple‐correlated traits that arise because of inevitable trade‐offs among traits and across levels of whole‐plant integration and that must be understood from a whole‐plant perspective, and (3) such adaptation may be globally generalizable for like conditions; i.e., the set of traits (collections of traits in syndromes) of taxa can be considered as “plant strategies.”
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    Fitness and Adaptive Capacity in a Minnesota Prairie
    (2016-12) Eule-Nashoba, Amber
    Wild populations are subject to environments that are changing at unprecedented rates. Assessing natural selection and the capacity to adapt in wild populations is crucial to planning for and understanding how species will fare under climate change. The goal of this research was to empirically examine selection and adaptive capacity in a natural population of Chamaecrista fasciculata. In Chapter 1, I present an empirical quantitative genetic study of C. fasciculata to predict the rate of change in mean fitness using Fisher’s Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection (FTNS). The additive genetic variance for fitness was found to be substantial and statistically significant in both 2013 and 2014. Application of FTNS predicts increases in mean fitness of 1.68 (2013) seeds and 8.08 (2014) seeds in the next generation. These findings demonstrate that this population has the genetic capacity to respond to natural selection and is predicted to increase in fitness and thus, become better adapted to their environment. The objective of Chapter 2 is to compare predicted and observed mean fitness of C. fasciculata in a natural selective environment. Observed mean fitness of both second-generation cohorts was, however, lower than predicted by the FTNS and lower than their respective first-generation cohorts. However, comparison of first and second-generation cohorts growing in the same year and, hence, common conditions, demonstrated an increase in mean fitness. Thus, environmental differences between years, as well as genotype-by-environment interaction, contribute to the deviation of observed from predicted mean fitness. In Chapter 3, I performed a quantitative genetic study of phenotypic selection on C. fasciculata to examine the effect of selection and environment on the phenology of germination and reproductive initiation. In this population, selection for advancement in reproductive stage was detected, as well as a response of 2.2 days earlier flowering in the second generation. Overall, findings of these chapters present a population that has demonstrated a response to selection in flowering phenology and significant genetic variation for evolutionary fitness. This evidence of adaptation and substantial adaptive capacity conveys crucial information regarding the likelihood of population persistence, information that could be utilized for other species towards conservation goals.
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    Retrospectively purchasing ebooks to amplify diverse voices and perspectives at the University of Minnesota Libraries
    (2022-01-20) Carter, Sunshine J; Clarke, KL; Grant, Malaika; Marsolek, Wanda; Nelsen, Katherine
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    The spatial scale of adaptation in common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia)
    (2019-09) Gorton, Amanda
    Environmental variation at both large and small spatial scales can influence the ecological and evolutionary trajectory of plant populations. Decades of common garden and reciprocal transplant experiments have demonstrated that local adaptation is widespread. However, most experiments examining local adaptation compare populations at a single spatial scale. For my dissertation, I combined field experiments and population genetics to examine how environmental variation at three spatial scales—small (i.e., among populations), regional (i.e., urban vs. rural), and continental (i.e., across latitudes)—shapes local adaptation in common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.). I found evidence for adaptation to urban environments and latitudinal gradients in climate. More specifically, I found evidence that phenotypic divergence at small spatial scales (e.g. within a city) can be greater than divergence found at larger spatial scales. Across latitudes, I found that photoperiod influences the fitness of common ragweed populations, and the relevant spatial scale for adaptation varies across life history stages. In addition, for northern populations of ragweed, I found that climate change is already causing maladaptation. Lastly, my population genomic work with RNA-seq identified new traits of interest that may be involved in local adaptation, including stomatal opening and closing and seed dormancy. I discuss these results with regard to how they can help us understand local adaptation more broadly and in turn predict how plants may respond to climate change.