Ecological Range Expansion Research Articles

Phenotypic plasticity at fine-grained spatial scales: the scorched mussel Perumytilus purpuratus growing on Patagonian rocky salt-marshes

Understanding phenotypic plasticity of species at different spatial scales is vital in the current context of an increasing pace of environmental changes. Through this knowledge, it is possible to predict their potential to adapt and/or evolve in face of new environmental conditions such as climate change, and/or to understand their ecological range expansion. In Patagonian rocky salt-marshes, one of the most abundant invertebrate species is the scorched mussel Perumytilus purpuratus. In this system, this mussel can be found inhabiting both vegetated and non-vegetated patches, which differ in critical environmental conditions. We performed a field study evaluating whether mussels growing in vegetated patches differ in shell shape from those growing in adjacent non-vegetated patches. We sampled individuals from both patch types and assessed their shell shape and size using geometric morphometrics. The results showed that mussels from vegetated patches had shells that were more dorsoventrally expanded, anterodorsally restricted and globose in shape than those from non-vegetated patches, which showed the opposite traits resulting in a more elongated shell. The differences found could be driven by the different conditions of temperature, desiccation rate, wave action and population density to which mussels are exposed in each patch type. These results revealed the striking phenotypic plasticity of shell form of this native species at a fine-grained scale, which could be one of the explanations for its success in its ecological range expansion.

Evolutionary potential for increased invasiveness: High-Performance Polygonum cespitosum genotypes are competitively superior in full sun.

The presence of genetic variation for traits that contribute to ecological range expansion can provide the potential for introduced taxa to evolve greater invasiveness. Genotypes that contribute to the spread of introduced range populations must have the ability to maintain fitness under changing environmental stress and competitive intensity. Previously, we identified a subset of genotypes in populations of the invasive annual Polygonum cespitosum that express consistently high reproductive fitness in diverse (shaded, dry, and resource-rich) conditions. Here, we investigated whether these broadly adaptive (High-Performance) genotypes also show a competitive advantage over conspecifics in full sun and/or shade. We grew a population-balanced sample of 13 High-Performance and 13 'Control' genotypes in intraspecific competitive arrays, comprising all four possible combinations of High-Performance vs. Control target plants and competitive backgrounds, in both full sun and shaded glasshouse environments. In full sun, High-Performance genotypes (1) better maintained growth and reproductive output despite competition and (2) more strongly suppressed growth and reproduction of target plants. However, genotypes did not differ significantly in shade. Competitive superiority in open conditions may contribute to increasing predominance of these broadly adapted genotypes in introduced-range Polygonum cespitosum populations, and hence to the evolution of greater invasiveness. This study provides insight into the role of genotypic variation for ecological traits in the range expansion of a contemporary plant invader. It also highlights how such variation can be differently expressed in alternative environments (gene by environment interaction).

Evidence for rapid ecological range expansion in a newly invasive plant.

Little is known about how an introduced species may expand its ecological range, i.e. the set of local environmental conditions in which it can successfully establish populations. Delimiting this range of conditions is a methodological challenge, because it is impossible to sample all potential field locations for any species in a given region. Developing approaches to track ecological range over time could substantially contribute to understanding invasion dynamics. In this study, we use a previously established sampling strategy to document apparent changes across a 15-year time interval in the ecological range of the Asian annual Polygonum cespitosum Blume in northeastern North America, where the species has recently become invasive. Using a structured sample drawn from a large set of field populations, we determined the range of light, soil moisture and soil nutrient conditions that the species currently occupies in this region and the proportional distribution of individuals in differing types of microsite, and compared them with field measurements that were similarly determined 15 years earlier. Although in 1994 the species was absent from both high-light and flooded habitats, in 2009 P. cespitosum occurred in open as well as shaded habitats, across a wide range of moisture conditions. In 2009 the species also occupied a greater proportion of high-light microsites within field sites than in 1994. These findings suggest an expanded ecological range that, intriguingly, is consistent with the recent evolution in North American P. cespitosum populations of adaptive plasticity in response to high light. Possible non-evolutionary explanations for the change in field distribution are also considered.

Darwinism renewed: contemporary studies of plant adaptation

Darwinism renewed: contemporary studies of plant adaptation

Phenotypic plasticity in age and size at maturity and its effects on the integrated phenotypic expressions of life history traits of Cardamine flexuosa (Cruciferae)

AbstractWe analyzed variation in phenotypic plasticity of life history traits between two Cardamine flexuosa populations based on differences in plasticity of age and size at maturity. C. flexuosa (Cruciferae) is a facultative, vernalization‐sensitive, long‐day annual, and its phenology and the phenotypic expressions of many life history traits are largely controlled by photoperiod and vernalization in natural populations. We used plants from two populations which differed in their responses to chilling and photoperiod treatments. The timing of developmental processes was changed by controlling temperature and photoperiod regimes in growth chambers. Plasticity in size at maturity was analyzed as changes in a growth trajectory using two parameters, age at maturity (Δt) and growth rate (k). Both traits showed plasticity, but differences between the populations were found mostly for Δt. Distinctive differences in size at maturity of individuals in the two populations were mainly due to different amounts of plasticity in Δt. Variations in plasticity of nine other life history traits and their associations to age and size at maturity were also analyzed. Variation for eight of the traits can be described, at least in part, as a function of age and size at maturity for both populations, and most of the variation in the total number of seeds was explained by age and size at maturity. Only age at maturity had any effect on changes in resource allocation. The nine life history traits were integrated through associated character expressions with age and size at maturity. Changes in the association between a trait and age and/or size at maturity were rather conservative compared to changes in the plasticity of a trait between the two populations. Associations with age and size at maturity are mostly explicable in terms of inherent relationships in the developmental processes, and they may limit the ecological range expansion and the adaptive evolution of plasticity in C. flexuosa. The negative correlation between reproductive allocation and age at maturity can be a cost of delaying maturation in C. flexuosa.

Diapause and diapause dynamics of Colias alexandra (Lepidoptera: Pieridae).

The mechanisms and adaptations involved in the "obligate" third instar larval diapause of Colias alexandra, a native Rocky Mountain and intermountain region butterfly, are examined. Generally univoltine throughout its distribution, scattered, isolated bivoltine populations occur. Factors influencing continuous development were investigated under laboratory conditions on a single generation of offspring from a univoltine population each year from 1976-1979. If exposed to mean temperatures >24°C during the second instar, a significant number of larvae fail to diapause. These results are interpreted in the context of the actual environmental conditions experienced by the univoltine source population and a bivoltine population. A high degree of individual variability in response to continuous development conditions is shown. Variation in certainty of diapause, within an originally univoltine population, could be the evolutionary starting point for evolving a genuine multivoltine cueing system and provide the mechanism for ecological range expansion.

Thermoregulatory Adaptations Allowing Ecological Range Expansion by the Pierid Butterfly, Nathalis iole Boisduval

Thermoregulatory Adaptations Allowing Ecological Range Expansion by the Pierid Butterfly, Nathalis iole Boisduval