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opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Syndromes in suites of correlated traits suggest multiple mechanisms facilitating invasion in a plant range-expander

Various mechanisms can facilitate the success of plant invasions simultaneously, but may be difficult to disentangle. We compared plants of the range-expanding species Bunias orientalis from populations of native, invasive and exotic, not yet invasive origin in a field common garden over two years. Plants were grown under two nitrate-regimes and multiple traits regarding growth, defence, antagonist loads and reproduction were measured. We used a rank-based clustering approach to assign correlated traits to distinct suites. These suites were analysed for "syndromes" that are expressed as a function of population origin and/or fertilisation treatment and might represent different invasion mechanisms. Indeed, distinct suites of traits were differentially affected by these factors. Our results suggest that different pre-adaptation properties, such as certain growth characteristics and intraspecific chemical variation, as well as post-introduction adaptations to antagonists and resource availability in novel habitats are candidate mechanisms that facilitate the success of invasive B. orientalis in parallel. We conclude that rank-based clustering is a robust and expedient approach to integrate multiple traits for elucidating invasion syndromes within individual species. Studying a multitude of traits at different life-history and establishment stages of plants grown under distinct resource treatments reveals species-specific trade-offs and resource sinks and simplifies the interpretation of single trait functions for plant invasiveness.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Adaptive and non-adaptive evolution of trait means and genetic trait correlations for herbivory resistance and performance in an invasive plant

The EICA-hypothesis predicts that invading plants adapt to their novel environment by evolving increased performance and reduced resistance in response to the release from natural enemies, and assumes a resource allocation tradeoff among both trait groups as mechanistic basis of this evolutionary change. Using the plant Silene latifolia as a study system, we tested these predictions by investigating whether 1) invasive populations evolved lower resistance and higher performance, 2) this evolutionary change is indeed adaptive, and 3) there is a negative genetic correlation among performance and resistance (i.e. a tradeoff) in native and introduced individuals. We sampled eight native and eight invasive populations and determined their population co-ancestry based on neutral SSR-markers. We performed controlled crossings to produce five sib-groups per population and exposed them to increased and reduced levels of enemy attack in a full-factorial experiment to estimate performance and resistance. With these data, we performed trait-by-trait comparisons between ranges with 'animal models' that account for population co-ancestry to quantify the amount of variance in traits explained by non-adaptive vs. adaptive evolution. Moreover, we tested for genetic correlations among performance and resistance traits within sib-groups. We found significant reductions in resistance and increases in performance in invasive versus native populations, which could largely be attributed to adaptive evolution. While we detected a non-significant trend towards negative genetic performance × resistance correlations in native populations, invasive populations exhibited both significant and non-significant positive correlations. In summary, these results do not support a shift of performance and resistance trait values along a tradeoff line in response to enemy release, as predicted EICA. They rather suggest that the independent evolution of both traits is not constrained by a tradeoff, and that various selective agents (including resource availability) interact in shaping both traits and in weakening negative genetic correlations in the invaded habitat.

opencc-zeroJul 2022View details →

Environmental and seasonal correlates of capercaillie movement traits in a Swedish wind farm

<p>Animals continuously interact with their environment through behavioural decisions, rendering the appropriate choice of movement speed and directionality an important phenotypic trait. Anthropogenic activities may alter animal behaviour, including movement. A detailed understanding of movement decisions is therefore of great relevance for science and conservation alike. The study of movement decisions in relation to environmental and seasonal cues requires continuous observation of movement behaviour, recently made possible by high-resolution telemetry. We studied movement traits of 13 capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), a mainly ground-moving forest bird species of conservation interest, over two summer seasons in a Swedish windfarm using high-resolution GPS tracking data (5-minute sampling interval). We filtered and removed unreliable movement steps using accelerometer data and step characteristics. We explored variation in movement speed and directionality in relation to environmental and seasonal covariates using Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs). We found evidence for clear daily and seasonal variation in speed and directionality of movement that reflected behavioural adjustments to biological and environmental seasonality. Capercaillie moved slower when more turbines were visible and faster close to turbine access roads. Movement speed and directionality were highest on open bogs, lowest on recent clear-cuts (<5 y.o.) and intermediate in all types of forest. Our results provide novel insights into the seasonal and environmental correlates of capercaillie movement patterns and supplement previous behavioural observations on lekking behaviour and wind turbine avoidance with a more mechanistic understanding.</p>

Supplementary material 6 from: Tewes LJ, Mueller C (2018) Syndromes in suites of correlated traits suggest multiple mechanisms facilitating invasion in a plant range-expander. NeoBiota 37: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.37.21470

Figure S5. Pairwise correlations between individual traits of Bunias orientalis plants :

Supplementary material 5 from: Tewes LJ, Mueller C (2018) Syndromes in suites of correlated traits suggest multiple mechanisms facilitating invasion in a plant range-expander. NeoBiota 37: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.37.21470

Figure S4. Reproduction traits of Bunias orientalis plants :

Supplementary material 4 from: Tewes LJ, Mueller C (2018) Syndromes in suites of correlated traits suggest multiple mechanisms facilitating invasion in a plant range-expander. NeoBiota 37: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.37.21470

Figure S3. Herbivore loads of Bunias orientalis plants :

Supplementary material 3 from: Tewes LJ, Mueller C (2018) Syndromes in suites of correlated traits suggest multiple mechanisms facilitating invasion in a plant range-expander. NeoBiota 37: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.37.21470

Figure S2. Growth traits of Bunias orientalis plants :

Supplementary material 1 from: Tewes LJ, Mueller C (2018) Syndromes in suites of correlated traits suggest multiple mechanisms facilitating invasion in a plant range-expander. NeoBiota 37: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.37.21470

Methods S1: Details for plant treatment and data analysis :

Supplementary material 2 from: Tewes LJ, Mueller C (2018) Syndromes in suites of correlated traits suggest multiple mechanisms facilitating invasion in a plant range-expander. NeoBiota 37: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.37.21470

Figure S1. Design of the common garden field experiment :

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Ecotypic divergence in Crepis tectorum (Asteraceae): inferring trait lability and correlational constraints from hormonally manipulated phenotypes

Despite long-standing interest in the evolutionary role of plant hormones, relatively few studies have used hormonally manipulated phenotypes to address questions about phenotypic evolution in plants. In the present investigation, I subjected plants of Crepis tectorum subsp. pumila to simple gibberellin (GA) treatments under both field and greenhouse conditions to assess developmental lability and correlational constraints of phenotypic traits that distinguish this dwarf ecotype from conspecific populations of the much taller weed ecotype (subsp. tectorum). The hormonally manipulated plants largely phenocopied the weed ecotype in leaf shape, plant stature and branching habit, indicative of both high lability and tight integration of traits reflecting gross morphology. Floral size traits sometimes declined after GA application, especially under field conditions. The latter result conflicts with the positive correlations between floral and vegetative size traits seen in previous comparative analyses and point to a tradeoff that could act as a constraint on ecotype divergence. The response to GA was consistent in direction for most traits, as opposed to the magnitude of response, which varied depending on the trait, the population, the growing environment, and the timing and level of hormone application. Taken together, the results highlight the potential for simple hormonal changes to cause large, plastic shifts in phenotype, but also illustrate the constrained nature of such influences.