← Back to PublicationsStudent Paper

Plasticity and changes in selection in response to changing precipitation regimes

Authors: Powers, J. M.ORCID
Mentor: Diane R. Campbell
Year: 2013
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Keywords: IPOMOPSIS, SELECTION, PLASTICITY, POLLINATOR

Abstract

Altered precipitation patterns are a major prediction of climate change models and a recent reality. Changes in climatic variables may affect the evolution of species by affecting the magnitude and direction of natural selection on various traits. Winter precipitation can affect summer-flowering plants by altering the date of snowmelt. By investigating a long-term record of floral and vegetative traits and corresponding fitness in a hybrid zone between two species of subalpine wildflowers, a strong relationship was found between snowmelt date and the strength of selection on corolla length. For other traits, variation in selection could be attributed to pollinator abundances. In addition, a plastic response to winter precipitation was found in specific leaf area, a trait that plants use to balance water usage and carbon acquisition.

Local Knowledge Graph (15 entities)

Loading graph...

Knowledge graph centered on Plasticity and changes in selection in response to with 16 nodes and 58 connections. Top connected: Measurements of selection in a hermaphroditic plan, Analyzing pollinator-mediated selection in a plant, Genotype-by-environment interaction and the fitnes, Evolutionary and ecological responses to anthropog, phenotypic plasticity.