Project Baseline: An unprecedented resource to study plant evolution across space and time

Etterson, Julie R.; Franks, Steven J.; Mazer, Susan J.; Shaw, Ruth G.; Gorden, Nicole L. Soper; Schneider, Heather E.; Weber, Joseph T.; Winkler, Katharine J.; Weis, Arthur E.

doi:10.3732/ajb.1500313

Cited by 62 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Resurrecting older genotypes and comparing them to contemporary populations is gaining fast recognition as an important way to empirically test the effects and ramifications of climate change (Franks et al, , ), but few studies have done so. We encourage participation in efforts such as Project Baseline (Etterson et al, ) and other seed bank programs to facilitate further research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for adaptive responses to historic drought across a native plant species range

Dickman

Pennington

Franks

et al. 2019

Evolutionary Applications

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As climatic conditions change, species will be forced to move or adapt to avoid extinction. Exacerbated by ongoing climate change, California recently experienced a severe and exceptional drought from 2011 to 2017. To investigate whether an adaptive response occurred during this event, we conducted a “resurrection” study of the cutleaf monkeyflower ( Mimulus laciniatus ), an annual plant, by comparing trait means and variances of ancestral seed collections (“pre‐drought”) with contemporary descendant collections (“drought”). Plants were grown under common conditions to test whether this geographically restricted species has the capacity to respond evolutionarily to climate stress across its range. We examined if traits shifted in response to the recent, severe drought and included populations across an elevation gradient, including populations at the low‐ and high‐elevation edges of the species range. We found that time to seedling emergence in the drought generation was significantly earlier than in the pre‐drought generation, a response consistent with drought adaptation. Additionally, trait variation in days to emergence was reduced in the drought generation, which suggests selection or bottleneck events. Days to first flower increased significantly by elevation, consistent with climate adaptation across the species range. Drought generation plants were larger and had greater reproduction, which was likely a carryover effect of earlier germination. These results demonstrate that rapid shifts in trait means and variances consistent with climate adaptation are occurring within populations, including peripheral populations at warm and cold climate limits, of a plant species with a relatively restricted range that has so far not shifted its elevation distribution during contemporary climate change. Thus, rapid evolution may mitigate, at least temporarily, range shifts under global climate change. This study highlights the need for better understanding rapid adaptation as a means for plant communities to cope with extraordinary climate events.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for adaptive responses to historic drought across a native plant species range

Dickman

Pennington

Franks

et al. 2019

Evolutionary Applications

Self Cite

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“…Hundreds of historical studies of different species and populations have measured trait frequencies, the strength of selection and trait heritability (Mousseau and Roff 1987, Diamond 2017, Hendry 2017. Additionally, we can begin preserving seeds and eggs now or start new common gardens that can be compared to future populations or repeated under future climates (Etterson et al 2016). The entire resurvey could be done simultaneously where historical seeds or eggs are available from lab or natural stocks (Geerts et al 2015, Franks et al 2016.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eco‐evolution on the edge during climate change

2019

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We urgently need to predict species responses to climate change to minimize future biodiversity loss and ensure we do not waste limited resources on ineffective conservation strategies. Currently, most predictions of species responses to climate change ignore the potential for evolution. However, evolution can alter species ecological responses, and different aspects of evolution and ecology can interact to produce complex ecoevolutionary dynamics under climate change. Here we review how evolution could alter ecological responses to climate change on species warm and cool range margins, where evolution could be especially important. We discuss different aspects of evolution in isolation, and then synthesize results to consider how multiple evolutionary processes might interact and affect conservation strategies. On species cool range margins, the evolution of dispersal could increase range expansion rates and allow species to adapt to novel conditions in their new range. However, low genetic variation and genetic drift in small range-front populations could also slow or halt range expansions. Together, these eco-evolutionary effects could cause a three-step, stop-and-go expansion pattern for many species. On warm range margins, isolation among populations could maintain high genetic variation that facilitates evolution to novel climates and allows species to persist longer than expected without evolution. This 'evolutionary extinction debt' could then prevent other species from shifting their ranges. However, as climate change increases isolation among populations, increasing dispersal mortality could select for decreased dispersal and cause rapid range contractions. Some of these eco-evolutionary dynamics could explain why many species are not responding to climate change as predicted. We conclude by suggesting that resurveying historical studies that measured trait frequencies, the strength of selection, or heritabilities could be an efficient way to increase our eco-evolutionary knowledge in climate change biology. ) and M. C. Urban (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3962-4091),

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“…A good choice would be organisms amenable to trans-generational study, known to have evolved rapidly in the past, and living in environments known to change rapidly. Ex situ preservation of genotypes sampled from present day populations, such as seeds being banked by Project Baseline [62], will also be important for resurrection studies of evolutionary change during future extreme events.…”

Section: Projections and Conjectures For The Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…If these traits are heritable then strong selection by this extreme event could have produced rapid evolutionary response. Long-term monitoring of forestry provenance trials, where tree genotypes originating from multiple populations are grown in common gardens in multiple sites, could provide an excellent opportunity to investigate the genetic basis of selective mortality in response to extreme climate events [62].…”

Section: Evolutionary Responses Of Plant Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution caused by extreme events

Grant

Huey

et al. 2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

195

172

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One contribution of 14 to a theme issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'. Extreme events can be a major driver of evolutionary change over geological and contemporary timescales. Outstanding examples are evolutionary diversification following mass extinctions caused by extreme volcanism or asteroid impact. The evolution of organisms in contemporary time is typically viewed as a gradual and incremental process that results from genetic change, environmental perturbation or both. However, contemporary environments occasionally experience strong perturbations such as heat waves, floods, hurricanes, droughts and pest outbreaks. These extreme events set up strong selection pressures on organisms, and are small-scale analogues of the dramatic changes documented in the fossil record. Because extreme events are rare, almost by definition, they are difficult to study. So far most attention has been given to their ecological rather than to their evolutionary consequences. We review several case studies of contemporary evolution in response to two types of extreme environmental perturbations, episodic ( pulse) or prolonged (press). Evolution is most likely to occur when extreme events alter community composition. We encourage investigators to be prepared for evolutionary change in response to rare events during long-term field studies.This article is part of the themed issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'.

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Project Baseline: An unprecedented resource to study plant evolution across space and time

Abstract: The resurrection approach can be coupled with long-established and newer techniques over the next five decades to elucidate genetic change and thereby vastly improve our understanding of temporal and spatial changes in phenotype and the evolutionary processes underlying it.

Cited by 62 publications

References 65 publications

Evidence for adaptive responses to historic drought across a native plant species range

Evidence for adaptive responses to historic drought across a native plant species range

Eco‐evolution on the edge during climate change

Evolution caused by extreme events

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