Local adaptation to an altitudinal gradient: the interplay between mean phenotypic trait variation and phenotypic plasticity in Mimulus laciniatus.

ABSTRACT: Organisms can adapt to environmental heterogeneity through two mechanisms: (1) expression of population genetic variation or (2) phenotypic plasticity. In this study we investigated whether patterns of variation in both trait means and phenotypic plasticity along elevational and latitudinal clines in a North American endemic plant, Mimulus laciniatus, were consistent with local adaptation. We grew inbred lines of M. laciniatus from across the species' range in two common gardens varying in day length to measure mean and plastic trait expression in several traits previously shown to be involved in adaptation to M. laciniatus's rocky outcrop microhabitat: flowering time, size-related traits, and leaf shape. We examined correlations between the mean phenotype and phenotyp

SUBMITTER: Syrotchen JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10418151 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature