Approaches to Plant Evolutionary Ecology

307 Pages·2015·6.32 MB·English

by  G.P. Cheplick

Approaches to
Plant Evolutionary
Ecology
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APProAchEs
to PlAnt
EvolutionAry
Ecology
g.P. cheplick
1
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1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
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Published in the United States of America by
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© Oxford University Press 2015
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cheplick, G. P. (Gregory Paul), 1957–
Approaches to plant evolutionary ecology / Gregory P. Cheplick.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–998832–7 (alk. paper)
1. Plants—Evolution. 2. Plant breeding. 3. Selection (Plant breeding) I. Title.
QK980.C44 2015
581.7—dc23
2014042333
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
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contents
ix Preface
xi Acknowledgments
1 1. The Domain of Evolutionary Ecology
1 1.1 Introduction: The Individual in Ecology and Evolution
3 1.2 Plant Evolutionary Ecology
4 1.3 The Timescale of Evolutionary Ecology
5 1.4 Principles and General Themes of Evolutionary Ecology
6 2. Natural Selection in the Plant Population
6 2.1 Natural Selection as a Population Attribute
7 2.1.1 Classifying the Agents of Selection
9 2.1.2 Natural Selection as Cause Versus Effect
10 2.1.3 How Natural Selection Causes Microevolution
12 2.1.4 The Importance of Genotype-by-Environment Interactions
14 2.1.5 Can Selection Occur without an External Agent?
14 2.1.6 Internal Agents and the Evolutionary Role of Development
16 2.2 Allelic, Genotypic, and Phenotypic Selection
17 2.2.1 The Classic Case of Avena barbata
19 2.2.2 Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg Expectations
20 2.2.3 Selection Analysis of Quantitative Traits
38 2.2.4 Experimental Approaches to Natural Selection
43 2.3 Natural Selection in Plants: What Have We Learned?
44 3. The Common Garden Approach
44 3.1 Introduction
45 3.2 Single Common Garden, No Environmental Factors Varied
49 3.3 Multiple Common Gardens, No Environmental Factors Varied
53 3.4 Single or Multiple Common Gardens, One or More Environmental
Factors Varied
56 3.5 Natural Selection in the Common Garden
59 3.6 Questions and Considerations in Using Common Garden
Experiments
60 3.6.1 What to Use: Seeds, Seedlings or Ramets?
60 3.6.2 Can and Will Potential Maternal Effects be Controlled?
v
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vi 62 3.6.3 How Many Gardens Will be Used and Where Should They be
s Placed?
nt
e 63 3.6.4 Given Space and Time Limitations, What Sample Sizes (Number
nt
co of Individuals, Populations, and so on) Can be Used?
63 3.6.5 How can Blocks be Used to Control Statistically for
Environmental Heterogeneity Within the Garden?
64 3.6.6 Will Naturally Occurring Vegetation in a Field Garden be Left
Intact or Will the Garden be Weeded?
64 3.6.7 Will Environmental/Climate Data be Obtained for the Sites of
the Source Populations?
65 3.6.8 Will any Environmental Variables be Purposely Manipulated?
65 3.7 Utility and Applications of the Common Garden Approach
67 4. Reciprocal Transplant Experiments
67 4.1 Introduction
68 4.2 A Brief Aside on Adaptation
69 4.3 Testing Hypotheses with the Standard Design
71 4.4 Diversity of Reciprocal Transplant Approaches
73 4.4.1 Manipulating the Planting Site
74 4.4.2 Comparing Planting Site Conditions
75 4.4.3 Modification and Expansion of Reciprocal Transplant Designs
78 4.4.4 Long-Term Experiments
80 4.5 Selection Coefficients and Selection Gradients
84 4.6 Reasons for the Lack of Local Adaptation
88 4.7 Reciprocal Transplant Experiments: Where Do We
Go from Here?
91 5. Molecular Approaches
91 5.1 Introduction: What Is Molecular Ecology?
95 5.2 Molecular Genetic Variation within and between Populations
96 5.2.1 Allozymes
98 5.2.2 DNA Markers
100 5.2.3 Life History Traits and Molecular Variation
104 5.2.4 Comparisons of Population Differentiation: Molecular Markers
Versus Quantitative Traits
105 5.3 Molecular Approaches to Studying Selection and Adaptation
106 5.3.1 Correlation of Molecular Markers with Environmental
Variables
107 5.3.2 The Molecular Genetic Basis of Adaptation
112 5.4 Other Uses for Molecular Markers
112 5.4.1 Gene Flow
115 5.4.2 Fine-Scale Genetic Structure
117 5.4.3 Hybridization
118 5.5 Wrap-up
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120 6. Abiotic Agents of Selection v
120 6.1 Introduction ii c
o
121 6.2 Edaphic Factors n
te
121 6.2.1 Population Responses to Distinct Soil Types nt
s
128 6.2.2 Metalliferous Soils
133 6.3 Climatic Factors
134 6.3.1 Temperature
138 6.3.2 Precipitation, Drought, and Soil Water
142 6.3.3 Climate Change
146 6.4 Other Abiotic Factors
147 6.4.1 Light
148 6.4.2 Salt
149 6.5 Wrap-up
150 7. Biotic Interactions I: Competition and Facilitation
150 7.1 The Ubiquity of Biotic Interactions
150 7.2 Competition and Competitive Ability
152 7.3 Genetic Variation in Competitive Performance
156 7.4 Differentiation, Local Adaptation, and Competition
157 7.4.1 Genetic Differentiation
161 7.4.2 Reciprocal Transplants and Local Adaptation
164 7.4.3 Fine-Scale Adaptation to Neighbors
165 7.5 Genotypic Interactions and Competitive Outcomes
167 7.5.1 Genetic Relatedness and Intraspecific Competition
168 7.5.2 Sibling Competition and Kin Selection
170 7.6 Selection Experiments
172 7.7 Other Genetic Aspects of Competition
173 7.8 Allelopathy
174 7.9 Facilitation
177 7.10 Wrap-up
178 8. Biotic Interactions II: Microbial Symbiosis
178 8.1 The Ubiquity of Plant–Microbe Interactions
180 8.2 Parasites/Pathogens
180 8.2.1 Genetic Variation in Host Resistance
182 8.2.2 Local Adaptation
184 8.2.3 Host Sexual Reproduction
186 8.3 Rhizobial Bacteria
188 8.4 Mycorrhizae
192 8.5 Systemic Leaf Endophytes
192 8.5.1 Genetic Variation in Host Responses
194 8.5.2 Local Adaptation
196 8.6 Wrap-up
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s viii 119988 9. B9.i1o tAicn Iinmtaerlsa catsi oAngse InItIs: oAfn Nimataulrsal Selection
nt 200 9.2 Herbivory
e
ont 200 9.2.1 Quantitative Genetic Variation and Selection for Resistance
c
and Tolerance
205 9.2.2 Selection on Quantitative Candidate Traits
207 9.2.3 Plant Adaptation
211 9.2.4 Molecular Genetic Approaches
212 9.3 Pollination
213 9.3.1 Genetic Variation in Floral Traits
215 9.3.2 Pollinator-Mediated Selection
218 9.3.3 Floral Adaptation
221 9.3.4 Molecular Genetic Tools
222 9.4 Fruit and Seed Dispersal
223 9.4.1 Selection Mediated by Fruit Consumers
226 9.4.2 Molecular Genetic Tools
227 9.5 Wrap-up
228 10. Future Directions
228 10.1 A Few Predictions
229 10.2 More Than a Few Questions
229 10.2.1 Natural Selection and Adaptation
230 10.2.2 Biotic Interactions
233 References
283 Index
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Preface
In this age of electronic media and information overload, one may well ask whether
any new scientific books are needed anymore. Although a book in print form may
be increasingly irrelevant, the information contained therein is not. Reference books
can become outdated as time goes on, yet they invariably function as a snapshot of
what is known about a particular topic at a particular time. A scientific work should
synthesize what is known, and not yet known, about the subject at hand.
Every active researcher perhaps at some midpoint in his or her career probably
secretly harbors a desire to halt the enormous flow of information, the steady stream
of publications that never ceases, and to sit back, take it all in, and ponder the current
state of the subject of interest. Would that we all had the time necessary to do just
that! Writing a book allows, indeed forces, one to do just that (although the informa-
tion tap continues to flow with no way to turn it off). It forces one to “catch up” on
all those studies over the years that may have been missed and to, hopefully, put it
all together in a way that creates a coherent, integrative picture. It is my hope that
this book provides graduate and undergraduate students who have an interest in
ecology, evolution, and/or plants an opportunity to learn of the diverse approaches
used by biologists to understand the evolutionary ecology of natural populations. In
addition, because no researcher necessarily is aware of all pertinent aspects of his or
her subject of interest, and the many related topics that likely overlap with it, it is my
hope that professional ecologists find this book to be useful as well. “Useful” in the
sense of summarizing the relevant literature and the enormous range of approaches
investigators have used in the broad field of plant evolutionary ecology. Note, more-
over, that many of the approaches considered in Approaches to Plant Evolutionary
Ecology have also been widely used to investigate animal ecology and evolution.
To gain a clearer picture of what this book is about, let’s first begin with two
points regarding what this book is not. First, it is not a compendium of ecological or
evolutionary theory, and it is assumed that the reader has some basic background
in ecology and evolutionary biology. Many excellent texts already exist that provide
the theoretical foundations of the vast subjects of evolution and ecology. Rather
than providing much redundant theory or mathematical models, this book takes an
empirical approach, emphasizing experimental studies of specific plant species and
what they reveal about microevolution and adaptation in relation to the many agents
of natural selection. The focus is at the population and genotype levels, because this
is where microevolutionary dynamics are most evident.
Second, this text is not a methods manual or handbook of statistical tech-
niques used in evolutionary ecology. Again, there are many review papers, edited
volumes, and texts available that contain details on methodology and data analyses
ix
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