Abstract
Closely related taxa occupying different environments are valuable systems for studying evolution. In this study, we examined differences in early phenology (bud set, bud burst) and early growth in a common garden trial of closely related pine species: Pinus sylvestris, P. mugo, and P. uncinata. Seeds for the trial were sourced from populations across the ranges of each species in Europe. Over first 4 years of development, clear differences were observed between species, while the most significant intraspecific differentiation was observed among plants from P. sylvestris populations from continental European locations. Trait differences within P. sylvestris were highly correlated with altitude and latitude of the site of origin. Meanwhile, P. mugo populations from the Carpathians had the earliest bud set and bud flush compared to other populations of the species. Overall, populations from the P. mugo complex from heterogeneous mountain environments and P. sylvestris from the Scottish Highlands showed the highest within‐population variation for the focal traits. Although the three species have been shown to be genetically highly similar, this study reveals large differences in key adaptive traits both among and within species.
Highlights
Photoperiod and temperature are important environmental drivers of distribution and local adaptation (Gaston, 2009)
Open-pollinated seeds of the three pine species were collected from twenty-eight natural populations in Europe covering the extent of each species range, including thirteen populations of P. sylvestris, nine P. mugo, and six P. uncinata (Table 1, Figure 1)
Large differences between families within populations were observed for bud set in P. sylvestris and P. uncinata and for bud burst in P. uncinata in the second year of measurements (Table S4)
Summary
Photoperiod and temperature are important environmental drivers of distribution and local adaptation (Gaston, 2009). The species can be artificially crossed, and they hybridize in contact zones (Jasińska et al, 2010; Wachowiak & Prus-Głowacki, 2008) Given that they currently occupy largely disjunct geographic ranges in ecologically distinct habitats, local adaptation has likely played a major role in their phenotypic diversification. These species are clearly differently adapted and can be recognized based on growth form and size, previous studies have shown that they share a highly similar genetic background. We asked what is the amount of phenotypic variation within species considering their similar genetic background but contrasting distribution ranges
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