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Updated: Feb 10, 2026
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Methods of Soil Resampling to Monitor Changes in the Chemical Concentrations of Forest Soils
Published on: November 25, 2016
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Evidence that divergent selection shapes a developmental cline in a forest tree species complex
João Costa E Silva1, Peter A Harrison2, Robert Wiltshire2
1Centro de Estudos Florestais, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisboa, Portugal.
Annals of Botany
|May 23, 2018
Summary
This study found that increasing aridity drives evolutionary changes in plant development, specifically favoring retention of juvenile foliage in Tasmanian trees. These findings highlight the adaptive role of developmental plasticity and heterochrony in species adapting to climate change.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Plant sciences
- Ecology
Background:
- Evolutionary change in developmental timing (heterochrony) is crucial for adaptation.
- Studies on developmental timing variation in wild plant populations are limited.
- This research investigates climatic drivers of a genetic-based developmental cline in Tasmanian endemic trees.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify climatic drivers of a genetic-based developmental cline.
- To measure natural selection on developmental timing in wild tree populations.
- To understand adaptation mechanisms in response to environmental change.
Main Methods:
- A 20-year common-garden field trial with 38 Eucalyptus provenances.
- Modeling provenance variation in vegetative juvenility using 27 climatic variables.
- Phenotypic selection analysis to assess fitness consequences of developmental timing variation.
Main Results:
- Significant divergence in vegetative juvenility linked to home-site aridity.
- Increased aridity correlated with greater retention of juvenile foliage.
- Directional selection favored reduced vegetative juvenility in a mesic field site.
Conclusions:
- Developmental heteroblasty is adaptive and influenced by climate.
- Developmental plasticity and heterochrony are vital for long-lived species adapting to global change.
- These processes enhance population persistence and adaptation to environmental shifts.
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