Southern Source Populations Research Articles

Genomic analyses point to a low evolutionary potential of prospective source populations for assisted migration in a forest herb.

Climate change is increasingly impacting temperate forest ecosystems and many forest herbs might be unable to track the changing climate due to dispersal limitation. Forest herbs with a low adaptive capacity may therefore benefit from conservation strategies that mitigate dispersal limitation and evolutionary constraints, such as assisted migration. However, assisted migration strategies rarely consider evolutionary constraints of potential source populations that may jeopardize their success. In cases where climate adaptation is overshadowed by competing evolutionary processes, assisted migration is unlikely to support adaptation to future climates. Using a combination of population and landscape genomic analyses, we disentangled local adaptation drivers and quantified the adaptability and vulnerability to climate change of the self-incompatible deciduous forest herb Primula elatior. Southern populations displayed a sharp genetic turnover and a considerable amount of local adaptation under diversifying selection was discovered. However, most of the outlier loci could not be linked to climate variables (71%) and were likely related to other local adaptation drivers, such as photoperiodism. Furthermore, specific adaptations to climate extremes, such as drought stress, could not be detected. This is in line with the typical occurrence of forest herbs in buffered climatic conditions, which can be expected to reduce selection pressures imposed by climate. Finally, populations in the south of the distribution area had increased sensitivity to climate change due to a reduced adaptive capacity and a moderate genetic offset, while central European populations were sensitive due to a high genetic offset. We conclude that assisted migration from southern source populations could bear significant risk due to nonclimatic maladaptation and a low adaptive capacity. Regional admixture and restoration of ecological connectivity to increase the adaptive capacity, and assisted range expansion to suitable habitat in the north might be more appropriate mitigation strategies.

The spatial scale of adaptation in a native annual plant and its implications for responses to climate change.

Spatial patterns of adaptation provide important insights into agents of selection and expected responses of populations to climate change. Robust inference into the spatial scale of adaptation can be gained through reciprocal transplant experiments that combine multiple source populations and common gardens. Here, we examine the spatial scale of local adaptation of the North American annual plant common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, using data from four common gardens with 22 source populations sampled from across a ∼1200km latitudinal gradient within the native range. We found evidence of local adaptation at the northernmost common garden, but maladaptation at the two southern gardens, where more southern source populations outperformed local populations. Overall, the spatial scale of adaptation was large-at the three gardens where distance between source populations and gardens explained variation in fitness, it took an average of 820km for fitness to decline to 50% of its predicted maximum. Taken together, these results suggest that climate change has already caused maladaptation, especially across the southern portion of the range, and may result in northward range contraction over time.

Migration trajectories of the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella in China inferred from population genomic variation.

The diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), is a notorious pest of cruciferous plants. In temperate areas, annual populations of DBM originate from adult migrants. However, the source populations and migration trajectories of immigrants remain unclear. Here, we investigated migration trajectories of DBM in China using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped using double-digest RAD (ddRAD) sequencing. We first analyzed patterns of spatial and temporal genetic structure among southern source and northern recipient populations, then inferred migration trajectories into northern regions using discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC), assignment tests, and spatial kinship patterns. Temporal genetic differentiation among populations was low, indicating that sources of recipient populations and migration trajectories are stable. Spatial genetic structure indicated three genetic clusters in the southern source populations. Assignment tests linked northern populations to the Sichuan cluster, and central-eastern populations to the southern and Yunnan clusters, indicating that Sichuan populations are sources of northern immigrants and southern and Yunnan populations are sources of central-eastern populations. First-order (full-sib) and second-order (half-sib) kin pairs were always found within populations, but ~ 35-40% of third-order (cousin) pairs were found in different populations. Closely related individuals in different populations were found at distances of 900-1500 km in ~ 35-40% of cases, while some were separated by > 2000 km. This study unravels seasonal migration patterns in the DBM. We demonstrate how careful sampling and population genomic analyses can be combined to help understand cryptic migration patterns in insects. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Diversity, dynamics, direction, and magnitude of high-altitude migrating insects in the Sahel

Long-distance migration of insects impacts food security, public health, and conservation–issues that are especially significant in Africa. Windborne migration is a key strategy enabling exploitation of ephemeral havens such as the Sahel, however, its knowledge remains sparse. In this first cross-season investigation (3 years) of the aerial fauna over Africa, we sampled insects flying 40–290 m above ground in Mali, using nets mounted on tethered helium-filled balloons. Nearly half a million insects were caught, representing at least 100 families from thirteen orders. Control nets confirmed that the insects were captured at altitude. Thirteen ecologically and phylogenetically diverse species were studied in detail. Migration of all species peaked during the wet season every year across localities, suggesting regular migrations. Species differed in flight altitude, seasonality, and associated weather conditions. All taxa exhibited frequent flights on southerly winds, accounting for the recolonization of the Sahel from southern source populations. “Return” southward movement occurred in most taxa. Estimates of the seasonal number of migrants per species crossing Mali at latitude 14°N were in the trillions, and the nightly distances traversed reached hundreds of kilometers. The magnitude and diversity of windborne insect migration highlight its importance and impacts on Sahelian and neighboring ecosystems.

Phylogeography of a widespread eastern North American shrub, Viburnum lantanoides.

There have been relatively few phylogeographic studies of eastern North American plants, especially of animal-dispersed shrubby species, and this leaves a significant gap in our understanding of how such species were affected by glacial events. Here, we analyzed the phylogeography of the widespread understory shrub Viburnum lantanoides. We generated RADseq data and paleoclimatic species distribution models (SDMs) to identify the locations of refugia where V. lantanoides may have survived the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and how its range expanded as glaciers receded. Genetic diversity falls off with increasing latitude and longitude, indicating that range expansion likely occurred via serial founder events from southern source populations. Samples from the southern Appalachians form a grade, while those from the north form a clade, suggesting that a single genetic lineage recolonized the north. SDMs indicate that V. lantanoides probably survived the LGM in refugia on the mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain and/or the interior Gulf Coastal Plain. Our analyses indicate that V. lantanoides survived the LGM in refugia south of the glacier but north of the extensive refugium along the Gulf Coast. Following the LGM, a single population expanded northward along the Appalachian Mountains and eventually into eastern Canada. The patterns observed here suggest that range expansion occurred in a stepwise manner, similar to postglacial dynamics observed in a number of European plant species.

Insights into Population Origins of NeotropicalJunonia(Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Nymphalinae) Based on Mitochondrial DNA

Cytochromecoxidase subunit I (COI) sequences were used to estimate demographic histories of populations of the buckeye butterflyJunonia genoveva(Cramer) from Costa Rica and Mexico. Previous studies have revealed significant structure between populations ofJ. genovevafrom coastal regions of northwestern Mexico, which utilize black mangroveAvicennia germinans(Acanthaceae) as a larval host plant, and inland populations from Costa Rica that feed on different hosts in the families Acanthaceae and Verbenaceae. The Mexico population ofJ. genovevareported on here is located near the Northern limit of black mangrove habitat on the Pacific coast of North America and is hypothesized to have been established by northward migrations and colonization from southern source populations. The mismatch distribution, Bayesian skyline analyses, and maximum likelihood analyses carried out in FLUCTUATE were used to estimate changes in female effective population size (Nef) over time in the two populations. Differences found in COI haplotype diversity, present-dayNef, and the timing of population expansions are consistent with the hypothesis that the Mexico population ofJ. genovevais the more recently evolved.

Kelp rafts in the Humboldt Current: Interplay of abiotic and biotic factors limit their floating persistence and dispersal potential

During summer 2009, we conducted a field experiment and a field survey at 30°S in the coastal Humboldt Current to determine how floating time affects the physiological performance of kelp rafts. For the field experiment kelp rafts were tethered in coastal waters and the field survey was specifically designed to collect free‐floating Macrocystis pyrifera across a latitudinal temperature gradient that reflects natural floating time. Experimental kelps were kept under photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) and PAR + ultraviolet (UV; PAR + UV) using filter foils, and tethered at the sea surface in their natural habitat. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) did not affect kelp physiology, but caused a decrease in kelp biomass. The field survey confirmed that sea‐surface temperature increased with distance from upstream source populations of M. pyrifera. Rafts sampled at increasing distance from sources showed high epibiont cover and reduced blade lengths. Physiological performance declined with increasing size of algal epibionts, which are indicators of floating time. Rafts that were farthest from the southern source populations had lost their sporophylls, suggesting that dispersal potential decreases with increasing floating time. The combined effects of abiotic (UVR and temperature) and biotic factors accelerate degradation of M. pyrifera and, thus, can impede successful dispersal in the Humboldt Current at 30°S. This suggests that floating macroalgae can be important dispersal vectors in areas with moderate environmental stress (i.e., in temperate oceans).

Climate‐index response profiling indicates larval transport is driving population fluctuations in nudibranch gastropods from the northeast Pacific Ocean

We illustrate a novel method, climate‐index response profiling, for testing mechanistic hypotheses for abundance fluctuations in long‐term marine data sets. (1) Autoregressive models were fitted to time‐series data for multiple species using climate indices as external regressors. The resulting regression coefficients for each species we term a climate‐index response profile (CIRP). (2) Mechanistic hypotheses were rejected based on the summary response profile across species obtained by meta‐analysis. (3) Monte‐Carlo simulations of the CIRPs for all species at all sites were performed to generate null expectations to test the significance of nonrejected hypotheses. We applied this method to historical data of 56 nudibranch species from three intertidal sites studied independently in central California during nonoverlapping time periods between 1969 and 1995, combined with recent resurveys from these same sites. Adult populations are strongly correlated with the multivariate El Niño‐Southern Oscillation index and sea‐surface height, increasing during El Niño and decreasing during La Niña events. Our data are consistent with recruitment limitation via larval advection as the primary driver of adult abundance variation. El Niño conditions increase recruitment by cross‐shelf onshore advection of larvae from both southern and northern populations, and alongshore larval advection from southern source populations. We hypothesize that recent declines of California nudibranchs are temporary, and populations will recover as El Niño conditions return to the California current.

Unexpected early extinction of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) in Sweden and climatic impact on its Holocene range

Using ancient DNA sequences of subfossil European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) from Britain, Central and North Europe and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating for turtle remains from most Swedish sites, we provide evidence for a Holocene range expansion of the pond turtle from the southeastern Balkans into Britain, Central Europe and Scandinavia, according to the 'grasshopper pattern' of Hewitt. Northeastern Europe and adjacent Asia were colonized from another refuge located further east. With increasing annual mean temperatures, pond turtles reached southern Sweden approximately 9800 years ago. Until approximately 5500 years ago, rising temperatures facilitated a further range expansion up to Ostergötland, Sweden (approximately 58 degrees 30'N). However, around 5500 years ago pond turtle records suddenly terminate in Sweden, some 1500 years before the Holocene thermal maximum ended in Scandinavia and distinctly earlier than previously thought. This extinction coincides with a temporary cooling oscillation during the Holocene thermal maximum and is likely related to lower summer temperatures deteriorating reproductive success. Although climatic conditions improved later again, recolonization of Sweden from southern source populations was prevented by the Holocene submergence of the previous land connection via the Danish Straits that occurred approximately 8500 years ago.

Experimental crosses within EuropeanSilene latifolia(Caryophyllaceae): intraspecific differentiation, distance effects, and sex ratio

The dioecious weed Silene latifolia Poiret is thought to have spread northwards through Europe from separate southern source populations and shows a pronounced east–west pattern of differentiation in seed morphology. We used crossing experiments to investigate whether patterns of interfertility in S. latifolia are consistent with a scenario of ongoing speciation (reflected by outbreeding depression in crosses between the seed races), a scenario involving local inbreeding (reflected by heterosis in interpopulations crosses), or a combination of both scenarios. The experiments involved three western and three eastern populations, which were crossed reciprocally in all possible inter- and intra-population combinations. Inter-race cross-progenies did not have lower fitness than those from intra-racial crosses, and the results are not consistent with a scenario of incipient speciation. A pattern of overall heterosis was found in three variables, indicating the expression of inbreeding depression in progeny from intrapopulation crosses. For two fitness variables, negative relationships between interpopulation distance and heterosis, together with signs of outbreeding depression in the longest-distance crosses, suggest that there may be significant levels of genetic differentiation between geographically distant populations. The sex ratio was female-biased in most progenies, especially in those from the longest-distance crosses.

Cold Hardiness in Two Interspecific Populus Hybrids

Cold hardiness was studied in two interspecific Populus hybrids (P. trichocarpa × P. deltoides, and P. trichocarpa × P. maxomowiscii), using laboratory freezing tests of mid-winter dormant tissues and fully expanded leaves in the autumn. These laboratory measurements were compared to field observations. Hybrids having one parent from southern-source populations and the other parent from northern sources were compared to hybrids in which both parents were from southern-source populations. Populus hybrids with one parent of northern origin were generally hardier than hybrids from parents of southern sources; however, significant differences in cold hardiness were detected between hybrids having the same genetic parents. Field observations generally supported laboratory measurements and showed clonal differences in mid-winter cold hardiness and autumn leaf frost tolerance. Fully expanded leaves of different clones from the same parent also exhibited differences in frost tolerance.