Plasticity of functional traits varies clinally along a rainfall gradient in Eucalyptus tricarpa

Elizabeth H McLean; Suzanne M Prober; William D Stock; Dorothy A Steane; Brad M Potts; Rene E Vaillancourt; Margaret Byrne

doi:10.1111/pce.12251

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Plasticity of functional traits varies clinally along a rainfall gradient in Eucalyptus tricarpa

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Plasticity of functional traits varies clinally along a rainfall gradient in Eucalyptus tricarpa

Elizabeth H McLean, Suzanne M Prober, William D Stock, Dorothy A Steane, Brad M Potts, Rene E Vaillancourt and Margaret Byrne

Plant, cell & environment, Vol.37(6), pp.1440-1451

2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12251

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Abstract

aridity

climate change

common garden

intra-species variation

leaf morphology

local adaptation

phenotypic plasticity

population-dependent plasticity

Widespread species often occur across a range of climatic conditions, through a combination of local genetic adaptations and phenotypic plasticity. Species with greater phenotypic plasticity are likely to be better positioned to cope with rapid anthropogenic climate changes, while those displaying strong local adaptations might benefit from translocations to assist the movement of adaptive genes as the climate changes. Eucalyptus tricarpa occurs across a climatic gradient in south-eastern Australia, a region of increasing aridity, and we hypothesized that this species would display local adaptation to climate. We measured morphological and physiological traits reflecting climate responses in nine provenances from sites of 460 to 1040 mm annual rainfall, in their natural habitat and in common gardens near each end of the gradient. Local adaptation was evident in functional traits and differential growth rates in the common gardens. Some traits displayed complex combinations of plasticity and genetic divergence among provenances, including clinal variation in plasticity itself. Provenances from drier locations were more plastic in leaf thickness, whereas leaf size was more plastic in provenances from higher rainfall locations. Leaf density and stomatal physiology (as indicated by δ13C and δ18O) were highly and uniformly plastic. In addition to variation in mean trait values, genetic variation in trait plasticity may play a role in climate adaptation.

Details

Title: Plasticity of functional traits varies clinally along a rainfall gradient in Eucalyptus tricarpa
Authors: Elizabeth H McLean (Author) - Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife
Suzanne M Prober (Author) - CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
William D Stock (Author) - Edith Cowan University
Dorothy A Steane (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Brad M Potts (Author) - University of Tasmania
Rene E Vaillancourt (Author) - University of Tasmania
Margaret Byrne (Author) - Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife
Publication details: Plant, cell & environment, Vol.37(6), pp.1440-1451
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Date published: 2014
DOI: 10.1111/pce.12251
ISSN: 0140-7791
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99448962002621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Plant Sciences

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