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Environmentally induced development costs underlie fitness tradeoffs.
Greg M Walter1, Melanie J Wilkinson1, J David Aguirre1,2
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia.
Ecology
|June 2, 2018
Summary
Fitness tradeoffs emerge as plants age, with native wildflowers outperforming foreign ones in new environments. Early life selection shapes survival and population divergence across landscapes.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Local adaptation drives genotype-by-environment interactions, influencing biodiversity distribution.
- Fitness tradeoffs in novel environments can arise from challenges in reaching life history stages or increased mortality.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the ecological factors promoting fitness tradeoffs.
- Determine how natural selection operates across ontogenetic stages.
- Assess fitness tradeoffs in Australian wildflowers (Senecio pinnatifolius) across ontogeny.
Main Methods:
- Utilized reciprocal transplants with four ecotypes of Senecio pinnatifolius.
- Assessed survival probability contingent on reaching key developmental stages.
- Compared native and foreign population success across ontogeny.
Main Results:
- Fitness tradeoffs intensified with plant ontogeny.
- Native plants showed greater success in reaching seedling establishment and maturity.
- Foreign plants experienced higher mortality post-seedling establishment, irrespective of sexual maturity.
Conclusions:
- Early life natural selection for environment-specific traits creates tradeoffs.
- Foreign populations faced challenges in establishment or increased mortality in novel environments.
- Environmentally dependent development rates impact lifetime fitness and population divergence.
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