Article
Plant Sciences
Nicholas J. Kooyers, Kelsie A. Morioka, Jack M. Colicchio, Kaitlyn S. Clark, Abigail Donofrio, Shayne K. Estill, Catalina R. Pascualy, Ian C. Anderson, Megan Hagler, Chloe Cho, Benjamin K. Blackman
Summary: The study used a resurrection approach to examine trait evolution in populations of the common monkeyflower exposed to record drought in California from 2011 to 2017, finding substantial variation among populations in trait evolution. The degree of trait evolution was weakly correlated with drought intensity but strongly correlated with initial levels of standing variation. Fitness was higher in the post-drought than pre-drought accessions for the thriving population, but lower for the nearly extirpated population in both treatments.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Laura M. McDonald, Anna Scharnagl, Andrea K. Turcu, Courtney M. Patterson, Nicholas J. Kooyers
Summary: Heat waves are getting worse with climate change, but the effects on plant species are rarely studied. This research examines the impact of a short but extreme heat wave on populations of the common yellow monkeyflower in Oregon. They found that most seedlings died during the heat wave and the consequences varied among different populations, with some performing well and others poorly. The difference in mortality was linked to soil moisture, with higher moisture retention leading to greater survivorship.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Elizabeth A. Zimmer, Jason A. Berg, Michele R. Dudash
Summary: The genetic diversity of invasive Mimulus guttatus populations in the UK was compared to native populations in western North America and non-native populations in eastern North America. The invasive populations in the UK showed high genetic diversity comparable to native populations. However, two naturalized populations in eastern North America had low genetic and genotypic diversity, indicating a history of asexual reproduction and self-fertilization. One naturalized population was found to be a polyploid Mimulus hybrid of unknown origin. These findings suggest that M. guttatus has achieved colonization success outside its native range through multiple establishment pathways, reproductive assurance, and asexual reproduction.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Thomas C. Nelson, Christopher D. Muir, Angela M. Stathos, Daniel D. Vanderpool, Kayli Anderson, Amy L. Angert, Lila Fishman
Summary: The research suggests that there is a genetic basis for leaf functional traits, life history, and reproductive characteristics of plants, but no evidence of genetic coordination was found across different categories. A major QTL for leaf functional traits indicates that a simple shift in leaf anatomy may play a key role in adaptation to seasonally dry habitats.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Joan Beaton, Annika Perry, Joan Cottrell, Glenn Iason, Jenni Stockan, Stephen Cavers
Summary: Multisite common garden experiments provide a valuable resource for understanding species' response to environmental variation and quantifying plastic and genetic components of trait variation. These experiments are especially important for long-lived tree species, as their mature traits only manifest after many years.
Article
Plant Sciences
Joshua A. FitzPatrick, Braden I. Doucet, Stacy D. Holt Jr, Courtney M. Patterson, Nicholas J. Kooyers
Summary: This study investigated the drought resistance strategies of different populations of Mimulus guttatus collected from an aridity gradient. The results showed that these populations have divergent drought-escape and avoidance strategies, which are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. The findings suggest that the drought resistance strategies of populations may be finely adapted to local patterns of water availability.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yue Ma, Xiang Zhao, Xiaona Li, Yanxia Hu, Chao Wang
Summary: Nitrogen deposition and biodiversity have significant effects on plant flowering phenology, and these effects are influenced by abiotic factors and functional traits of plants. In this study, an experiment was conducted to investigate the combined effects of nitrogen addition and plant species richness on the flowering phenology of Medicago sativa L. It was found that nitrogen addition delayed the first flowering day and shortened the flowering duration, while plant species richness advanced the last flowering day and shortened the flowering duration. These effects were mainly mediated by changes in plant nutrient acquisition traits.
Review
Plant Sciences
Travis E. Huxman, Daniel E. Winkler, Kailen A. Mooney
Summary: Global change poses a threat to plant diversity and disrupts its interplay with ecosystem structure and function. To address this challenge, ecology needs to consider interactions between different levels of biological hierarchy and integrate multiple disciplinary perspectives and units of study through empirical work and theoretical development. The use of common gardens is advocated to integrate ecology, evolutionary biology, and ecosystem science, providing opportunities to evaluate important assumptions and tackle the integration of physicochemical and eco-evolutionary foundations in understanding plants and ecosystems.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Fabio Alfieri, Leo Botton-Divet, Jan Woelfer, John A. Nyakatura, Eli Amson
Summary: This study reconstructs the evolutionary morphology of the humerus and femur of slow arboreal mammals, finding mosaic evolution at different anatomical spatial scales. It suggests that future macroevolutionary reconstructions should include structural traits to better understand the impact of ecological factors on vertebrate diversification.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Carmen Romeralo, Jorge Martin-Garcia, Pablo Martinez-Alvarez, E. Jordan Munoz-Adalia, Danilo Reis Goncalves, Esteban Torres, Johanna Witzell, Julio Javier Diez
Summary: The composition and abundance of fungal communities in trees are influenced by the host species, as well as the presence of a fungal pathogen. There are distinct core and satellite fungal communities, and the presence of the pathogen does not co-occur with a specific fungal community. Host species play an important role in shaping microbiome assembly in common environments.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Boyong Liao, Qingmin Que, Xingming Xu, Wei Zhou, Kunxi Ouyang, Pei Li, Huaqiang Li, Can Lai, Xiaoyang Chen
Summary: This study investigated the genetic differentiation and phenotypic variation in chinaberry populations, revealing that populations could be divided into two groups and significant differences in growth traits were observed due to geographic and climate factors.
Article
Forestry
Kristine Vander Mijnsbrugge, Marc Schouppe, Stefaan Moreels, Yorrick Aguas Guerreiro, Laura Decorte, Marie Stessens
Summary: Longer periods of intensified droughts in Western Europe are predicted due to ongoing climate change. Studying the responses of woody species during intense drought events can help toward understanding the consequences for forest ecosystems. This study focused on the effects of an intense summer water limitation on reproductive traits of Frangula alnus Mill. shrubs. The results showed a resource re-allocation towards reproduction rather than growth even two years after the drought, and a higher germination success, suggesting potential adaptations for survival in stressful growth conditions.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Marco A. Yanez, Benita Gonzalez, Sergio E. Espinoza, Hermine Vogel, Ursula Doll
Summary: This study investigated the phenotypic variation of 20 clones of Aristotelia chilensis (Molina) Stuntz from different provenances in Chile. The study found differences in growth, fruit, and ecophysiological traits among the clones, especially between the northern and southern provenances. Significant clonal variation was observed for ripening index, water use efficiency, and fruit number and weight. The results suggest potential local adaptation based on provenance differences.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Shuhui Liao, Zhiwei Fan, Xiujing Huang, Yuru Ma, Fangyan Huang, Yuntao Guo, Tianqi Chen, Pan Wang, Zilin Chen, Meisen Yang, Tongguang Yang, Jianqiu Xie, Jinping Si, Jingjing Liu
Summary: This study cultivated five Polygonatum species collected from different populations in a common garden for 4 years and found differences in yield, saponin and polysaccharide contents, stem diameter, leaf width, inflorescence length, and floret inflorescence length. P. cyrtonema (PC) showed high-quality yield in Zhejiang, with an output as high as 7.5 tons per hectare and promising breeding potential. Stem diameter can be used as an indicator of harvest in variety screening. Plant genetic traits are influenced by the climatic factors of the origin. Near-infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometrics provides a rapid assessment of PC quality. These findings provide a scientific basis for the development and sustainable utilization of PC as a high-yielding and high-quality forest crop.
Article
Forestry
Anna M. Stefanowicz, Katarzyna Rozek, Malgorzata Stanek, Kaja Rola, Szymon Zubek
Summary: Different tree species have moderate effects on soil microbial and chemical properties. Significant differences were observed in fungal biomass and microbial community structure among different tree species, while differences were also found in soil pH and base cations concentrations. Broadleaf species tended to have higher microbial biomass than coniferous species.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Review
Plant Sciences
Allison Gaudinier, Benjamin K. Blackman
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Madelaine Bartlett, Erin Patterson
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Baoqing Ding, Erin L. Patterson, Srinidhi Holalu, Jingjian Li, Grace A. Johnson, Lauren E. Stanley, Anna B. Greenlee, Foen Peng, H. D. Bradshaw, Michael L. Blinov, Benjamin K. Blackman, Yao-Wu Yuan
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Nicholas J. Kooyers, Abigail Donofrio, Benjamin K. Blackman, Liza M. Holeski
JOURNAL OF HEREDITY
(2020)
Article
Plant Sciences
Srinidhi Holalu, Srirama K. Reddy, Benjamin K. Blackman, Scott A. Finlayson
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2020)
Article
Plant Sciences
Nicholas J. Kooyers, Kelsie A. Morioka, Jack M. Colicchio, Kaitlyn S. Clark, Abigail Donofrio, Shayne K. Estill, Catalina R. Pascualy, Ian C. Anderson, Megan Hagler, Chloe Cho, Benjamin K. Blackman
Summary: The study used a resurrection approach to examine trait evolution in populations of the common monkeyflower exposed to record drought in California from 2011 to 2017, finding substantial variation among populations in trait evolution. The degree of trait evolution was weakly correlated with drought intensity but strongly correlated with initial levels of standing variation. Fitness was higher in the post-drought than pre-drought accessions for the thriving population, but lower for the nearly extirpated population in both treatments.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Catherine A. Rushworth, Regina S. Baucom, Benjamin K. Blackman, Maurine Neiman, Maria E. Orive, Arun Sethuraman, Jessica Ware, Daniel R. Matute
Summary: Scientific societies have the potential to support communities historically excluded from science, emphasizing diversity and equity. Data collected from surveys at an evolutionary biology conference reveal that historically excluded groups are still underrepresented in US-based professional societies. Representation for women and LGBTQ+ members decreases as career stage progresses, with evidence of heterogeneity in racial composition across societies. Further efforts are needed to collect demographic data at society levels and design evidence-based initiatives for inclusion and equity.
Editorial Material
Evolutionary Biology
Stacey D. Smith, Benjamin K. Blackman
EVOLUTION & DEVELOPMENT
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jack M. Colicchio, Lauren N. Hamm, Hannah E. Verdonk, Nicholas J. Kooyers, Benjamin K. Blackman
Summary: Genetic diversity among populations becomes structured over time due to genetic drift and divergent selection. Recent resequencing studies have shown that diversity in many regions of the genome may be structured quite dissimilar to the genome-wide pattern. Genetic differentiation varies within and between chromosomes, with local adaptation to specific climate factors accentuating genetic differentiation among populations.
Article
Plant Sciences
Nicky M. Creux, Evan A. Brown, Austin G. Garner, Sana Saeed, C. Lane Scher, Srinidhi V. Holalu, Daniel Yang, Julin N. Maloof, Benjamin K. Blackman, Stacey L. Harmer
Summary: This study found that east-facing sunflower capitula exhibited earlier style elongation, pollen presentation, and pollinator visits compared to west-facing capitula, resulting in higher reproductive success. Local ambient temperature change was identified as a key factor in regulating the timing of flower development and pollinator interactions.
Article
Biology
Marco Todesco, Natalia Bercovich, Amy Kim, Ivana Imerovski, Gregory L. Owens, Oscar Dorado Ruiz, Srinidhi Holalu, Lufiani L. Madilao, Mojtaba Jahani, Jean-Sebastien Legare, Benjamin K. Blackman, Loren H. Rieseberg
Summary: Flowers play a crucial role in pollination and water regulation for plants. UV patterns attract pollinators and help plants conserve water. This study is significant for improving pollination and resilience in cultivated plants.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yuguo Xiao, Jinyan Guo, Zhaobin Dong, Annis Richardson, Erin Patterson, Sidney Mangrum, Seth Bybee, Edoardo Bertolini, Madelaine Bartlett, George Chuck, Andrea L. Eveland, Michael J. Scanlon, Clinton Whipple
Summary: This study investigates the complex interactions of genes regulating grass inflorescence development through transcript profiling and genetic and phylogenetic analyses. The findings suggest that the genes tsh1 and lg2 play important roles in suppressing leaf growth and promoting branching in inflorescences.
Article
Plant Sciences
Erin L. Patterson, Annis Richardson, Madelaine Bartlett
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2023)