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opencc-zeroApr 2020View details →

Data from: Cold adaptation across the elevation gradient in an alpine butterfly species complex

1. Temperature acts as a major factor on the timing of activity and behaviour in butterflies, and it might represent a key driver of butterfly diversification along elevation gradients. Under this hypothesis, local adaptation should be found along the elevation gradient, with butterflies from high elevation populations able to remain active at lower ambient temperature than those from low elevation. 2. We recorded the warming-up rate and the thoracic temperature at take-off of 123 individuals of the Alpine butterfly species complex Coenonympha arcania - C. macromma - C. gardetta in controlled conditions. 3. Warming-up rate increased with elevation within C. arcania: high elevation males of C. arcania were able to warm-up more quickly, as compared to low elevation ones. 4. High elevation C. gardetta had a darker underwing pattern than low elevation ones. This high-elevation species was significantly smaller (lower weight and wing surface) than the two other species, and had a faster warming up rate. 5. Our results suggest that the ability to warm-up quickly and to take-flight at a high body temperature evolved adaptively in the high-altitude C. gardetta, and that low temperature at high altitude may explain the absence there of C. arcania, while the hybrid nature of C. macromma is probably the explanation of its elevation overlap with both other species, and its local replacement of C. gardetta.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

The genetic basis of plumage coloration and elevation adaptation in a clade of recently diverged alpine and arctic songbirds

Trait genetic architecture plays an important role in the probability that variation in that trait leads to divergence and speciation. In some cases, speciation may be driven by the generation of novel phenotypes through the recombination of genes associated with traits that are important for local adaptation or sexual selection. Here, we investigate the genetic basis of three plumage color traits, and one ecological trait, breeding elevation, in a recent avian radiation, the North American rosy-finches (Leucosticte spp.). We identify unique genomic regions associated with each trait and highlight 11 candidate genes. Among these are well-characterized melanogenesis genes, including Mitf and Tyrp1, and previously reported hypoxia-related genes including Egln1. Additionally, we use mitochondrial data to date the divergence of rosy-finch clades which appear to have diverged within the past 250 ky. Given the low levels of genome-wide differentiation among rosy-finch taxa, and evidence for extensive introgression in North America, plumage coloration and adaptation to high elevations have likely played large roles in generating the observed patterns of lineage divergence. The relative independence of these candidate regions across the genome suggests that recombination might have led to multiple phenotypes, and subsequent rosy-finch speciation, over short periods of time.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

Data from: Parallel shifts in trout feeding morphology suggest rapid adaptation to alpine lake environments

Eco-evolutionary interactions following ecosystem change provide critical insight into the ability of organisms to adapt to shifting resource landscapes. Here we explore evidence for the rapid parallel evolution of trout feeding morphology following eco-evolutionary interactions with zooplankton in alpine lakes stocked at different points in time in the Wind River Range (Wyoming, USA). In this system, trout predation has altered the zooplankton species community and driven a decrease in average zooplankton size. In some lakes that were stocked decades ago, we find shifts in gill raker traits consistent with the hypothesis that trout have rapidly adapted to exploit available smaller-bodied zooplankton more effectively. We explore this morphological response in multiple lake populations across two species of trout (cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarkii, and golden trout Oncorhynchus aguabonita) and examine the impact of resource availability on morphological variation in gill raker number among lakes. Furthermore, we present genetic data to provide evidence that historically stocked cutthroat trout populations likely derive from multiple population sources, and incorporate variation from genomic relatedness in our exploration of environmental predictors of feeding morphology. These findings describe rapid adaptation and eco-evolutionary interactions in trout and document an evolutionary response to novel, contemporary ecosystem change.

publicDec 2022View details →

The genetic basis of plumage coloration and elevation adaptation in a clade of recently diverged alpine and arctic songbirds

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publicJul 2023View details →

Data from: Parallel shifts in trout feeding morphology suggest rapid adaptation to alpine lake environments

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publicJan 2025View details →

Data from: Early life history divergence mediates elevational adaptation in a perennial alpine plant

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publicAug 2025View details →

Integrating temporal and spatial dimensions of alpine adaptation: Camera-trap insights on bharal (Pseudois nayaur) in Giant Panda National Park

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publicSep 2024View details →

The combination of high leaf hydraulic safety and water use efficiency allows alpine shrubs to adapt to high-altitude habitats

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publicApr 2020View details →

Cold adaptation across the elevation gradient in an alpine butterfly species complex

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opencc-zeroSep 2020View details →

Data from: Genomic signatures of convergent adaptation to Alpine environments in three Brassicaceae species

It has long been discussed to what extent related species develop similar genetic mechanisms to adapt to similar environments. Most studies documenting such convergence have either used different lineages within species or surveyed only a limited portion of the genome. Here, we investigated whether similar or different sets of orthologous genes were involved in genetic adaptation of natural populations of three related plant species to similar environmental gradients in the Alps. We used whole-genome pooled population sequencing to study genome-wide SNP variation in 18 natural populations of three Brassicaceae (Arabis alpina, Arabidopsis halleri, and Cardamine resedifolia) from the Swiss Alps. We first de novo assembled draft reference genomes for all three species. We then ran population and landscape genomic analyses with ~3 million SNPs per species to look for shared genomic signatures of selection and adaptation in response to similar environmental gradients acting on these species. Genes with a signature of convergent adaptation were found at significantly higher numbers than expected by chance. The most closely related species pair showed the highest relative over-representation of shared adaptation signatures. Moreover, the identified genes of convergent adaptation were enriched for non-synonymous mutations, suggesting functional relevance of these genes, even though many of the identified candidate genes have hitherto unknown or poorly described functions based on comparison with Arabidopsis thaliana. We conclude that adaptation to heterogeneous Alpine environments in related species is partly driven by convergent evolution, but that most of the genomic signatures of adaptation remain species-specific.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Extensive variation, but not local adaptation in an Australian alpine daisy

Alpine plants often occupy diverse habitats within a similar elevation range, but most research on local adaptation in these plants has focused on elevation gradients. In testing for habitat-related local adaptation, local effects on seed quality and initial plant growth should be considered in designs that encompass multiple populations and habitats. We tested for local adaptation across alpine habitats in a morphologically variable daisy species, Brachyscome decipiens, in the Bogong High Plains in Victoria, Australia. We collected seed from different habitats, controlled for maternal effects through initial seed size estimates, and characterized seedling survival and growth in a field transplant experiment. We found little evidence for local adaptation for survival or plant size, based on three adaptation measures: Home versus Away, Local versus Foreign, and Sympatric versus Allopatric (SA). The SA measure controlled for planting site and population (site-of-origin) effects. There were significant differences due to site-of-origin and planting site effects. An important confounding factor was the size of plants directly after transplantation of seedlings, which had a large impact on subsequent seedling survival and growth. Initial differences in plant width and height influenced subsequent survival across the growing season but in opposing directions: wide plants had higher survival, but tall plants had lower survival. In an additional controlled garden experiment at Cranbourne Royal Botanic Gardens, site-of-origin effects detected in the field experiments disappeared under more benign homogeneous conditions. Although B. decipiens from different source areas varied significantly when grown across a range of alpine habitats, these differences did not translate into a local or habitat-related fitness advantage. This lack of local advantage may signal weak past selection, and/or weak adaptive transgeneration (plasticity) effects.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Adaptive plasticity and epigenetic variation in response to warming in an Alpine plant

Environmentally induced phenotypic plasticity may be a critical component of response to changing environments. We examined local differentiation and adaptive phenotypic plasticity in response to elevated temperature in half-sib lines collected across an elevation gradient for the alpine herb, Wahlenbergia ceracea. Using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), we found low but significant genetic differentiation between low- and high-elevation seedlings, and seedlings originating from low elevations grew faster and showed stronger temperature responses (more plasticity) than those from medium and high elevations. Furthermore, plasticity was more often adaptive for plants of low-elevation origin and maladaptive for plants of high elevation. With methylation sensitive-AFLP (MS-AFLP), we revealed an increase in epigenetic variation in response to temperature in low-elevation seedlings. Although we did not find significant direct correlations between MS-AFLP loci and phenotypes, our results demonstrate that adaptive plasticity in temperature response to warming varies over fine spatial scales and suggest the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in this response.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Are the radiations of temperate lineages in tropical alpine ecosystems pre-adapted?

Aim: Tropical mountains around the world harbour an extraordinarily rich pool of plant species and are hotspots of biodiversity. Climatically, they can be zoned into montane climates at mid-altitudes and tropical alpine climates above the tree line. Around half of the tropical alpine species belong to plant lineages with a temperate ancestry, although these regions are often geographically distant. We test the hypothesis that these temperate lineages are pre-adapted to the tropical alpine climate. Location: New World, with a focus on tropical alpine Andes. Time period: Miocene to present. Major taxa studied: Flowering plants. Methods: We build multidimensional environmental models representing the full space of New World climates. We quantify the environmental similarity between the tropical alpine ecosystem and those of potential source areas, while correcting for regional differences by kernel density smoothers. Based on spatial observations of the genus Hypericum (St John's Wort), we quantify niche overlap and test for niche conservatism following intercontinental dispersal using density-weighted nonparametric tests. A dated species tree, biogeographical estimation, multi-optima Ornstein–Uhlenbeck models and model selection approaches are used to test for niche shifts during establishment in the tropical alpine Andes. Results: The tropical alpine ecosystem is isolated by its climate from adjacent regions and is climatically similar to temperate lowland biomes of both hemispheres. Niche conservatism is evident in the study group, except in the tropical alpine lineage that is characterized by niche expansion and shifts in temperature optima. Main conclusions: Our results reject the pre-adaptation hypothesis and instead suggest pronounced niche evolution during colonization of tropical alpine ecosystems. Establishment involved substantial niche shifts, mainly in temperature-related variables, and resulted in a tremendous proliferation of species in the newly invaded tropical alpine ecosystem.

opencc-zeroFeb 2022View details →

Climate change and alpine-adapted insects: modelling environmental envelopes of a grasshopper radiation

Mountains create steep environmental gradients that are sensitive barometers of climate change. We modelled the environmental envelopes of twelve predominantly alpine, flightless grasshopper species in Aotearoa New Zealand, using current conditions and two future global climate change scenarios: representative concentration pathway (RCP) 2.6 (1.0 °C raise) and RCP8.5 (3.7 °C raise). Two thirds of our models suggested a reduced potential range across species by 2070, but surprisingly, for six species we predict an increase in potential suitable habitat under mild (+1.0°C) or severe global warming (+3.7°C). However, when we consider the limited dispersal ability of these grasshoppers, all twelve species studied are predicted to suffer extreme reductions in range, with a quarter likely to go extinct due to a 96-100% reduction in suitable habitat. Alpine species are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climatic shifts, and species that have limited migratory ability will be particularly at risk of habitat loss, fragmentation and local extinction. Here we present the predicted outcomes for an endemic radiation of alpine taxa as an exemplar of the challenges that alpine species, both in New Zealand, and internationally, will face in light of anthropogenic climate change

Fig. 2 in Major range loss predicted from lack of heat adaptability in an alpine Drosophila species

Fig. 2. Heat knock-down results for the three regimes (C, L, A) of two populations (Kaserstattalm, Pfitscherjoch). Colours indicate the temperature at which the flies were reared in the generation used for testing knock-down performance. Significances based on analyses of variance and Bonferroni post hoc tests (n = 875, alpha = 0.05) are indicated by lower-case letters. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 4 in Major range loss predicted from lack of heat adaptability in an alpine Drosophila species

Fig. 4. Ecological niche modelling of habitable area of Drosophila nigrosparsa for pre-current, immanent, proximate, and distant future. (a) Multi-model consensus predictions of precurrent and future high emission scenarios (SRES A2 and RCP8.5). (b) PNO profiles for different time periods (pre-current, 2020s, 2030s, 2080s) scaled according to the suitable area based on the MTP (whole distribution area) and MTSS (core area) as well as histograms of frequencies of available altitude in the study region. For details, see Section 2.6 and Supporting Information S1.

Fig. 1 in Major range loss predicted from lack of heat adaptability in an alpine Drosophila species

Fig. 1. Overview of experiments. Years 2012–2016 with months abbreviated; G1-G20…generation number for selection regimes, L and A; controls C developed more slowly resulting in a difference of one generation at Generation 19 of the selection regimes; coll…collecting of flies in two populations, Kaserstattalm and Pfitscherjoch; breeding…flies were reared at a fluctuating ambient temperature mimicking natural daily conditions; red upward pointing arrow…increasing the ambient temperature by 0.5 ̊C for L and A; KD…artificial selection of A in heat knock-down tube; N14…founding of lines using fresh flies collected from the field in 2014 to test for possible laboratory adaptation; s… replicate lines from each regime were combined to create new synthetic lines to control for possible inbreeding effects; larv…assays of egg-to-adult viability and wing size in non-competitive and competitive situations; w…upscaling of lines and switches to the opposed rearing temperature (L and A switched to C rearing temperature; C to L = A rearing temperature) in addition to keeping the lines at the rearing temperatures corresponding to their regime; *…for evaluating progress in selection response, heat resistance was measured as knock-down temperature under gradual heating, and for safeguarding against unexpected loss of genetic diversity during the selection experiments, three polymorphic microsatellite loci were analysed; sim… simulating technical defect of climate chamber that occurred in previous generation for evaluating validity of data for that generation; horizontal bars denote replicate fly lines of the three regimes, i.e., C…control; L…laboratory natural selection (in Generation 14, one replicate each of L from Kaserstattalm and Pfitscherjoch were lost); A…artificial selection combined with laboratory natural selection; blue…fluctuating ambient temperature mimicking natural daily conditions (control temperature); red…increased ambient temperature (selection temperature). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 3 in Major range loss predicted from lack of heat adaptability in an alpine Drosophila species

Fig. 3. Egg-to-adult viability and wing size under non-competitive and competitive situations. (a) Egg-to-adult viability of the three regimes (C, L, A) under regular larval density. Significances based on analyses of variance (n = 30). (b) Wing size of the three regimes separately for females and males under regular larval density. Significances based on analyses of variance (n = 374). (c) Inter-regime competition (increased larval density). Output proportion of C relative to L and A at end of experiment (adults) plotted against input proportion of C relative to L and A at beginning of experiment (eggs). Dashed line: theoretical 45̊ equilibrium line on which output proportion equals input proportion. Significance values based on Wilcoxon Signed-rank tests calculated separately for each output proportion by comparison with corresponding value of theoretical equilibrium line (n = 10 for all tests except for C against A at input ratio 0.25, for which n = 9). (d) Wing size at inter-regime competition of different ratios. Females are shown as solid lines, males as dashed lines. Significance values at alpha = 0.05 are indicated by lower-case letters (a, b) and * (c).