Plastic and constant developmental traits contribute to adaptive differences in co‐occurringPolygonumspecies

Abstract

Adaptive differences among species are often thought to result from developmentally constant trait differences that enhance fitness in alternative environments. Species differences in patterns of individual phenotypic plasticity can also have ecological consequences. Indeed, functionally related constant and plastic traits may interact to determine the phenotype's adaptive value in particular conditions. We compared juvenile shade avoidance traits (height and its components, internode length and node number) across two field density treatments inPolygonumpersicariaandP. hydropiper, annual plant species that co‐occur in pastures comprised of a mosaic of plant densities. We used selection analyses to test trait contributions to fitness in alternative density treatments. Seedlings of both species expressed plasticity for internode elongation in response to density;P. persicariaplants increased internode length and consequently height significantly more in high density than did those ofP. hydropiper. As predicted by the shade avoidance hypothesis, increased height was adaptive for both species in high density stands, soP. persicariaplants had higher fitness in this environment. By contrast, node numbers were relatively constant across density treatments in both species:P. hydropiperseedlings consistently produced more nodes than did those ofP. persicaria. This constant trait difference contributed toP. hydropiper'sgreater relative fitness at low density, where more nodes and hence leaves enable plants to better exploit available light. Differences between species in these juvenile shade‐avoidance traits did not result from the evolutionary constraints of lack of heritable variation or costs of plasticity. We discuss how these interspecific trait differences may have been generated by divergent selective histories resulting from differences in herbivore resistance. These results illustrate how adaptive differences in both plastic and constantly expressed traits may jointly contribute to ecological distribution, including coexistence in patchy habitats.