Quantifying Environmental Maternal Effects in the Invasive Plant, Silene Latifolia (original) (raw)
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Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2009
Population differentiation of alien invasive plants within their non-native range has received increasingly more attention. Common gardens are typically used to assess the levels of genotypic differentiation among populations. However, in such experiments, environmental maternal effects can influence phenotypic variation among individuals if seed sources are collected from field populations under variable environmental regimes. In the present study, we investigated the causes of an altitudinal cline in an invasive plant. Seeds were collected from Senecio inaequidens (Asteraceae) populations along an altitudinal gradient in southern France. In addition, seeds from the same populations were generated by intra-population crossings in a climatic chamber. The two seed lots were grown in a common garden in Central Belgium to identify any evidence of environmentally induced maternal effects and/or an altitudinal cline in a suite of life-history traits. Results failed to detect any environmental maternal effects. However, an altitudinal cline in plant height and above-ground biomass was found to be independent of the maternal environment.
Using among-year variation to assess maternal effects in Pinus aristata and Pinus flexilis
Botany, 2014
Maternal effects, the effect of the maternal environment during development on offspring growth, can complicate the interpretation of common garden studies. Growing one or more generations in a common environment can help minimize maternal effects, but is often not practical with long-lived species. In Pinus aristata Engelm. and Pinus flexilis James, we assessed maternal effects by growing offspring sourced over multiple years from the same mother trees, comparing growth traits between source years. Additionally, we explored the effect of maternal environment on seed characteristics by collecting five twig clippings from each mother tree and measuring characteristics indicative of the relative vigor of the tree during each seed source year. The effect of year was significant for twig growth characteristics, seed size, and seedling performance. For both species, there were significant relationships between the relative inter-annual (RIA) variation in seed mass and the RIA variation in numerous seedling traits including cotyledon length, seedling total dry mass, and needle length. Variation in seed mass was not predicted by yearly variation in the maternal plant's phenotypic traits. These results support the hypothesis that maternal effects translate into variation in early seedling growth and suggest possibilities to statistically account for them in common garden studies involving long-lived species.
Parental Effects on Progeny Phenotype in Plants: Distinguishing Genetic and Environmental Causes
Evolution, 1996
The experimental measurement of additive genetic variation in plant populations is complicated by the potential for non-Mendelian inheritance. Maternal influences on progeny phenotype resulting from the cytoplasmic inheritance of plastids or RNA transcripts and effects of the maternal environment have consequently been the focus of much research. To exclude or to control for these sources of variation, breeding designs (e.g., cross-factored, nested, or diallel) in which genetically unrelated pollen donors are mated to maternal genotypes have been adopted. Using these designs, some empirical studies have detected statistically significant differences among pollen donors in the mean performance of their pollen (the mature male gametophytes) or in the mean phenotype of their progeny. These statistical effects of pollen-donor identity on pollen performance or progeny phenotype have frequently been interpreted as evidence for additive genetic variance among pollen donors, although patrilineal cytoplasmic inheritance or effects of the paternal environment on pollen performance or gene expression are recognized as alternative explanations. We note that environment-specific selection among developing gametophytes-in which the environment experienced by developing pollen grains (or ovules) provides a selective force causing the differential survival of gametophyte genotypes (analagous to meiotic drive)-is an additional process that may cause genetically based paternal (or maternal) effects on gametophyte performance. If genes selected during this process are expressed in the sporophyte (postfertilization), this process could also influence the phenotype of the diploid progeny. Here, we review the potential causes of statistically significant differences in mean phenotype among the gametophytes or progeny of maternal (seedbearing) or paternal (pollen-donating) parental plants. We suggest an experimental approach that permits the detection or elimination of selection among developing gametophytes as one such cause. Specifically, the replication of homozygous parental genotypes within and across environments allows the detection and measurement of paternal and maternal environmentally induced effects on gametophyte or offspring phenotype, while eliminating meiotic drive as a source of the phenotypic variation.
The Adaptive Significance of Maternal Effects
Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 1998
Even in species with no direct parental care, when, where and how mothers place their offspring is often the single greatest determinant of offspring success 9 . For example, a female herbivore that places her eggs on an appropriate host Larval host plant affects the fitness consequences of egg size in the seed beetle Stator limbatus, Oecologia 107, 541-548 37 Solemdal, P. (1997) Maternal effects -a link between the past and the future, J. Sea Res. 37, 213-227 38 Gliwicz, Z.M. and Guisande, C. (1992) Family planning in Daphniaresistance to starvation in offspring born to mothers grown at different food levels, Oecologia 91, 463-467 39 Berrigan, D. (1991) The allometry of egg size and number in insects, Oikos 60, 313-321 40 Hill, G. (1991) Plumage coloration is a sexually selected indicator of male quality, Nature 350, 337-339 41 Moore, A.J., Wolf, J.B. and Brodie, E.D., III (1998) The influence of direct and indirect genetic effects on the evolution of behavior: social and sexual selection meet maternal effects, in Maternal Effects as Adaptations (Mousseau, T.
Annals of Forest Science, 2008
In forest trees, environmental conditions during reproduction can greatly influence progeny performance. This phenomenon probably results from adaptive phenotypic plasticity but also may be associated with genotypic selection. In order to determine whether selective effects during the reproduction are environment specific, single pair-crosses of Norway spruce were studied in two contrasted maternal environments (warm and cold conditions). One family expressed large and the other small phenotypic differences between these crossing environments. The inheritance of genetic polymorphism was analysed at the seed stage. Four parental genetic maps covering 66 to 78% of the genome were constructed using 190 to 200 loci. After correcting for multiple testing, there is no evidence of locus under strong and repeatable selection. The maternal environment could thus only induce limited genotypic-selection effects during reproductive steps, and performance of progenies may be mainly affected by a long-lasting epigenetic memory regulated by temperature and photoperiod prevailing during seed production.
Disentangling sources of maternal effects in the heterocarpic species Rumex bucephalophorus
Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 2010
Maternal effects are one of the most important influences on the offspring phenotype and their adaptive significance has been increasingly recognized. In this study we document the role of two sources of maternal effects, position and heterocarpy, on juvenile and adult traits of Rumex bucephalophorus, an annual plant that occurs in heterogeneous and unstable environments. Up to three different diaspore types can be found in populations of this species: buried diaspores (BD) at the plant base, and fixed diaspores (FD) and long dispersible diaspores (LD) both borne along aerial stems. The two sources of maternal effects affected most stages of the life cycle of R. bucephalophorus: seed size, dispersability, seedling size and survival, and adult plant fecundity. Maternal effects due to position affected mainly juvenile traits, while those due to heterocarpy were stronger and more persistent. In general, seedlings from FD showed higher survival and originated plants with higher fecundity but with lower dispersability than those derived from BD and LD. Dispersability was markedly affected by the two maternal effects at two different stages: first, there was a trend to place the slighter and more easily detachable diaspores (LD) at the optimal positions for dispersal, and second maternal effect due to heterocarpy surprisingly affected dispersability of the second generation progeny. Our study shows that maternal effects can play an important role in ecology, dynamic and evolution of populations and it adds to growing evidence about the important role of maternal effects.
Hidden responses to environmental variation: maternal effects reveal species niche dimensions
Ecology Letters, 2014
Species responses to fluctuating environments structure population and community dynamics in variable ecosystems. Although offspring number is commonly used to measure these responses, maternal effects on offspring quality may be an important but largely unrecognised determinant of long-term population growth. We selected 29 species across a Mediterranean annual plant phylogeny, and grew populations of each species in wet and dry conditions to determine responses in seed number and maternal effects (seed size, seed dormancy, and seedling growth). Maternal effects were evident in over 40% of species, but only 24% responded through seed number. Despite a strong trade-off between seed size and seed number among species, there was no consistent trade-off within species; we observed correlations that ranged from positive to negative. Overall, species in this plant guild show a complex range of responses to environmental variation that may be underestimated when only seed number responses are considered.
Demographic determinants of the phenotypic mother–offspring correlation
Ecological Monographs, 2021
Phenotypic traits partly determine expected survival and reproduction, and so have been used as the basis for demographic models of population dynamics. Within a population, the distribution of phenotypic traits depends upon their transmission from parents to offspring, yet we still have a limited understanding of the factors shaping phenotypic transmission in wild populations. Phenotypic transmission can be measured using the phenotypic parent–offspring correlation (C), defined as the slope of the regression of offspring phenotypic trait on parental phenotypic trait, both traits measured at the same age, often at birth. This correlation reflects phenotypic variation due to both additive genetic effects and parental effects. Researchers seldom account for the possible influence of selection on estimates of the phenotypic parent–offspring correlation. However, because individuals must grow, survive, and reproduce before giving birth to offspring, these ,aphic processes might influenc...
Weak evidence for anticipatory parental effects in plants and animals
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2013
The evolution of adaptive phenotypic plasticity relies on the presence of cues that enable organisms to adjust their phenotype to match local conditions. Although mostly studied with respect to nonsocial cues, it is also possible that parents transmit information about the environment to their offspring. Such 'anticipatory parental effects' or 'adaptive transgenerational plasticity' can have important consequences for the dynamics and adaptive potential of populations in heterogeneous environments. Yet, it remains unknown how widespread this form of plasticity is. Using a meta-analysis of experimental studies with a fully factorial design, we show that there is only weak evidence for higher offspring performance when parental and offspring environments are matched compared with when they are mismatched. Estimates of heterogeneity among studies suggest that effects, when they occur, are subtle. Study features, environmental context, life stage and trait categories all failed to explain significant amounts of variation in effect sizes. We discuss theoretical and methodological reasons for the limited evidence for anticipatory parental effects and suggest ways to improve our understanding of the prevalence of this form of plasticity in nature.