A century-long record of plant evolution reconstructed from a coastal marsh seed bank.

ABSTRACT: Evidence is mounting that climate-driven shifts in environmental conditions can elicit organismal evolution, yet there are sparingly few long-term records that document the tempo and progression of responses, particularly for plants capable of transforming ecosystems. In this study, we "resurrected" cohorts of a foundational coastal marsh sedge (Schoenoplectus americanus) from a time-stratified seed bank to reconstruct a century-long record of heritable variation in response to salinity exposure. Common-garden experiments revealed that S. americanus exhibits heritable variation in phenotypic traits and biomass-based measures of salinity tolerance. We found that responses to salinity exposure differed among the revived cohorts, with plants from the early 20th century exhibitin

SUBMITTER: Blum MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8327947 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature