Evolutionary dynamics of the leaf phenological cycle in an oak metapopulation along an elevation gradient.

ABSTRACT: It has been predicted that environmental changes will radically alter the selective pressures on phenological traits. Long-lived species, such as trees, will be particularly affected, as they may need to undergo major adaptive change over only one or a few generations. The traits describing the annual life cycle of trees are generally highly evolvable, but nothing is known about the strength of their genetic correlations. Tight correlations can impose strong evolutionary constraints, potentially hampering the adaptation of multivariate phenological phenotypes. In this study, we investigated the evolutionary, genetic and environmental components of the timing of leaf unfolding and senescence within an oak metapopulation along an elevation gradient. Population divergence, estimated from in s

SUBMITTER: Firmat C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5856351 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature