对于分布广泛的物种,了解遗传变异与景观结构和组成相关的规模是至关重要的。特别是在恢复的背景下,如果种子不适应恢复环境,遗传差异的进化可能会影响成功。在这项研究中,我们使用Geumtriflorum来量化对适应重要的数量性状的遗传差异已经进化的尺度,比较归因于广泛的区域和地方人口水平影响的方差比例。Geumtriflorum是一种分布广泛的物种,跨越各种环境,包括阿尔瓦和草原栖息地,土壤水分有效性具有极大的区域差异。Alvar栖息地是石灰岩上薄薄的土壤区域,水的可利用性经历了很大的季节性变化,每年从洪水到干燥。这与草原栖息地形成对比,其更深的土壤减轻了不规则的洪水-干燥周期。用一个普通的花园实验,我们评估了15个性状,大致分为三个性状类别:资源分配,气孔特征,和来自草原和阿尔瓦环境的个体的叶片形态特征。我们量化了由区域和人口尺度效应解释的性状方差的比例,并比较了跨性状类别解释的区域和人口性状方差的比例。对于大多数数量性状观察到显着的区域差异;然而,人口规模效应等于或大于区域效应,这表明重要的遗传差异可能是在更精细的种群规模上进化而来的。气孔和资源分配性状类别相对于形态性状表现出实质性的区域差异,这可能表明相对于形态性状,气孔和资源分配性状的选择强度增加。这些模式指出了考虑广泛分布的物种可能进化出遗传差异的规模的价值,并确定了可能对建立种子转移指南有价值的不同功能性状类别。
For widely distributed species, understanding the scale over which genetic variation correlates to landscape structure and composition is critical. Particularly within the context of restoration, the evolution of genetic differences may impact success if seeds are maladapted to the restoration environment. In this study, we used Geum triflorum to quantify the scale over which genetic differences for quantitative traits important to adaptation have evolved, comparing the proportion of variance attributed to broad regional- and local population-level effects. Geum triflorum is a widely distributed species spanning a range of environments, including alvar and prairie habitats, which have extreme regional differences in soil-moisture availability. Alvar habitats are regions of thin soil over limestone that experience substantial seasonal variation in water availability, from flooding to desiccation annually. This contrasts with prairie habitats, whose deeper soils mitigate irregular flood-desiccation cycles. Using a common garden experiment, we evaluated 15 traits broadly grouped into three trait classes: resource allocation, stomatal characteristics, and leaf morphological traits for individuals sourced from prairie and alvar environments. We quantified the proportion of trait variance explained by regional- and population-scale effects and compared the proportion of regional- and population-trait variances explained across trait classes. Significant regional differentiation was observed for the majority of quantitative traits; however, population-scale effects were equal or greater than regional effects, suggesting that important genetic differences may have evolved across the finer population scale. Stomatal and resource allocation trait classes exhibited substantial regional differentiation relative to morphological traits, which may indicate increased strength of selection for stomatal and resource allocation traits relative to morphological traits. These patterns point towards the value in considering the scale over which genetic differences may have evolved for widely distributed species and identify different functional trait classes that may be valuable in establishing seed transfer
guidelines.