Abstract
Reproductive timing is a key life‐history trait that impacts the pool of available mates, the environment experienced during flowering, and the expression of other traits through genetic covariation. Selection on phenology, and its consequences on other life‐history traits, has considerable implications in the context of ongoing climate change and shifting growing seasons. To test this, we grew field‐collected seed from the wildflower Mimulus guttatus in a greenhouse to assess the standing genetic variation for flowering time and covariation with other traits. We then created full‐sib families through phenological assortative mating and grew offspring in three photoperiod treatments representing seasonal variation in daylength. We find substantial quantitative genetic variation for the onset of flowering time, which covaried with vegetative traits. The assortatively‐mated offspring varied in their critical photoperiod by over two hours, so that families differed in their probability of flowering across treatments Allocation to flowering and vegetative growth changed across the daylength treatments, with consistent direction and magnitude of covariation among flowering time and other traits. Our results suggest that future studies of flowering time evolution should consider the joint evolution of correlated traits and shifting seasonal selection to understand how environmental variation influences life histories.
Highlights
| INTRODUCTIONThe timing of plant flowering determines the biotic and abiotic environment experienced by flowers and developing seed and is critical for fitness (Elzinga et al, 2007; Inouye, 2008; Sandring & Ågren, 2009; Verhoeven, Poorter, Nevo, & Biere, 2008)
Flowering time is expected to be under strong selection, where
The effect of assortative mating for the generation depends on the heritability of flowering time and other traits that are genetically correlated with flowering time
Summary
The timing of plant flowering determines the biotic and abiotic environment experienced by flowers and developing seed and is critical for fitness (Elzinga et al, 2007; Inouye, 2008; Sandring & Ågren, 2009; Verhoeven, Poorter, Nevo, & Biere, 2008). Because flowering time is part of an overall life‐history strategy, it is often correlated with other traits related to plant growth and allocation (Ehrlén, 2015). (b) How does assortative mating by flowering time affect phenology and other correlated traits in environments with different photo‐ periods? Because flowering is part of an overall life‐history strategy, we predict that photoperiodic controls on flowering will affect correlated traits, and that assortative mating will exaggerate these differences. Our results indicate two main findings, first that selection on flowering time at different times of the growing season will strongly affect correlated life‐history traits, and second that shifting seasons that expose plants to different daylengths will alter the relative allocation to sexual and vegetative growth
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