Intraspecific variation and plasticity in growth and foliar morphology along a climate gradient in the Canary Island pine

Abstract

Foliar plasticity in response to ontogeny, location within the plant and environmental changes is widespread among long-lived organisms. To quantify the phenotypic variation in needle morphology and anatomy in response to a climate gradient, we compared contrasted populations of Pinus canariensis grown in five sites inside and outside the natural distribution area of the species. Most needle and growth traits were strongly affected by site. In general, site xericity increased the relative area of the dermal and transfusion tissues and decreased mesophyll and endodermis. Within each site, provenances from less productive locations tended to show longer needles, less relative area of dermal tissues but higher relative area of mesophyll and transfusion tissue than provenances from fertile origins. Although sclerophylly increased with aridity, no genetic differences were found for this trait thus apparently the ontogenetic delay of some provenances in xeric environments was not related with the formation of tougher needles. Several patterns of phenotypic response to different environments were shown. In general, all traits were plastic but the degree of plasticity was higher in traits related with growth than foliar traits. These results, combined with formerly published research, suggest that highly plastic populations rather than narrowly specialized ones have been selected in this species to cope with the complex interaction of environmental factors in its habitat.

Cold adaptation drives variability in needle structure and anatomy in Pinus sylvestris L. along a 1,900 km temperate–boreal transect

“…Adaptive patterns in anatomical traits related to water transport and conservation may arise in response to gradients of habitat water availability (e.g. López et al., ). In our study area, none of the sites was classified as arid although AI suggested that water deficits would be highest at Polish sites.…”

“…A number of studies have indeed revealed non-trivial intraspecific geographic variation in gross leaf structure (Fajardo & Piper, 2011;González-Zurdo et al, 2016;López, Climent, & Gil, 2010;Ogaya & Peñuelas, 2007). However, the underlying variation of specific anatomical traits has been examined less often.…”

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

“…A more common finding has been a little consistent pattern in leaf trait plasticity, in species such as P. canariensis (López et al . ), Q. suber (Ramírez‐Valiente et al . ), Betula pendula (Meier & Leuschner ) and Populus davidiana (Zhang et al .…”

“…On the other hand, evidence for plasticity has been found in low and mid rainfall plantings of Pinus canariensis and P. pinea (López et al . ; Mutke et al . ) and to a lesser extent Q. ilex (Gratani et al .…”

Life history traits and patterns of diversification in oceanic archipelagos: a meta-analysis

“…ex DC. (López, Climent & Gil, ), Olea cerasiformis Rivas‐Mart. & del Arco (García‐Verdugo et al ., ; García‐Verdugo, ) and Croton scouleri Hook.f.…”