Clinal variations in seedling traits and responses to water availability correspond to seed-source environmental gradients in a foundational dryland tree species.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

In dryland ecosystems, conifer species are threatened by more frequent and severe droughts, which can push species beyond their physiological limits. Adequate seedling establishment will be critical for future resilience to global change. We used a common garden glasshouse experiment to determine how seedling functional trait expression and plasticity varied among seed sources in response to a gradient of water availability, focusing on a foundational dryland tree species of the western USA, Pinus monophylla. We hypothesized that the expression of growth-related seedling traits would show patterns consistent with local adaptation, given clinal variation among seed source environments.

Methods

We collected P. monophylla seeds from 23 sites distributed acro

SUBMITTER: Vasey GL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10583205 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature