Abstract
Forest tree hybrid zones provide a wealth of novel genetic variation that can be harnessed to safeguard populations in changing climates. In the past 30 years, natural and artificial forest hybrid zones have facilitated significant contributions to selective breeding programs, conservation, and our understanding of the evolutionary processes and mechanisms that influence the maintenance of species and community interactions. This review highlights advances in these areas using forest hybrid zones. Taking examples from well-known genera, including eucalypt, poplar, oak and spruce, this review details the important role hybrid zones play in managing conservation of genetic variation, the environmental and non-environmental factors that influence barriers to reproduction, and the impact that genetic ancestry may have on community biodiversity. Given increasing concern surrounding species adaptability under rapidly changing conditions, we describe how the study of forest hybrid zones, using quantitative and genomic approaches, can facilitate conservation of genetic diversity and long-term species management.
Highlights
Hybridization is an important component of the evolution of modern plants and animals [1,2,3,4].With up to 25% of plant species thought to be of hybrid origin, hybridization is increasingly recognized as an important mechanism involved in generating novel genetic recombinants [5,6,7]
Using examples from some of the world’s key forest genera, we show that studies of hybrid zones have influenced tree breeding, community ecology, species predictions under climate change, and conservation
Quantifying the degree of hybridization between natural populations, and genetic variation associated with increased fitness in different genomic backgrounds will be valuable for predicting future forest health, productivity, and ecosystem services within these natural zones of introgression
Summary
Hybridization is an important component of the evolution of modern plants and animals [1,2,3,4]. Using examples from some of the world’s key forest genera (i.e., eucalypt, oak, poplar and spruce), we show that studies of hybrid zones have influenced tree breeding, community ecology, species predictions under climate change, and conservation. These examples illustrate that species’ persistence in the face of changing climate will be impacted by their capacity to adapt to these new conditions, and potentially altered interactions with other species as they too respond to changing climate. We draw attention to gaps in our current methodology and understanding that could benefit from further study, and highlight ways in which new genomic technologies could be used to advance these study areas
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