Abstract
Ecological processes and intra-specific genetic diversity reciprocally affect each other. While the importance of uniting ecological variables and genetic variation to understand species’ plasticity, adaptation, and evolution, is increasingly recognized, only few studies have attempted to address the intersection of population ecology and genetics using marine macrophyte as models. Representative empirical case studies on genetic diversity are reviewed that explore ecological and evolutionary processes in marine macrophytes. These include studies on environment-induced phenotypic plasticity and associated ecological adaptation; population genetic variation and structuring driven by ecological variation; and ecological consequences mediated by intraspecific and interspecific diversity. Knowledge gaps are also discussed that impede the connection of ecology and genetics in macrophytes and possible approaches to address these issues. Finally, an eco-evolutionary perspective is advocated, by incorporating structural-to-functional genomics and life cycle complexity, to increase the understanding of the adaptation and evolution of macrophytes in response to environmental heterogeneity.
Highlights
Local adaptive evolution and the evolution of phenotypic plasticity are both vital processes enabling organisms in a population to obtain maximum fitness in response to heterogeneous environments
Whether selection favors phenotypic plasticity or local adaptation will depend on the balance between spatial environmental heterogeneity and dispersal-mediated gene flow
Ecology and genetics can each influence diversity, plasticity, adaptation, and evolution of marine macrophytes (Pereyra et al, 2009; Padilla and Savedo, 2013; Duarte et al, 2018; Wernberg et al, 2018; Figure 1). Ecological factors, such as habitat preferences, species interactions, and environmental gradients, can generate variable allelic frequencies in macrophyte populations at specific genetic loci that are associated with differentiated phenotypes (Schmidt et al, 2008), enabling them to adapt to different environments (e.g., Bergström and Kautsky, 2006; Hays, 2007)
Summary
Local adaptive evolution (see explanation in Box 1, other terms are explained in the same Box) and the evolution of phenotypic plasticity are both vital processes enabling organisms in a population to obtain maximum fitness in response to heterogeneous environments. Ecological factors, such as habitat preferences, species interactions, and environmental gradients, can generate variable allelic frequencies in macrophyte populations at specific genetic loci that are associated with differentiated phenotypes (Schmidt et al, 2008), enabling them to adapt to different environments (e.g., Bergström and Kautsky, 2006; Hays, 2007).
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