Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Environmental Heterogeneity and Population Differentiation in Plasticity to Drought in Convolvulus Chilensis (Convolvulaceae)

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Evolutionary Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Plant populations may show differentiation in phenotypic plasticity, and theory predicts that greater levels of environmental heterogeneity should select for higher magnitudes of phenotypic plasticity. We evaluated phenotypic responses to reduced soil moisture in plants of Convolvulus chilensis grown in a greenhouse from seeds collected in three natural populations that differ in environmental heterogeneity (precipitation regime). Among several morphological and ecophysiological traits evaluated, only four traits showed differentiation among populations in plasticity to soil moisture: leaf area, leaf shape, leaf area ratio (LAR), and foliar trichome density. In all of these traits plasticity to drought was greatest in plants from the population with the highest interannual variation in precipitation. We further tested the adaptive nature of these plastic responses by evaluating the relationship between phenotypic traits and total biomass, as a proxy for plant fitness, in the low water environment. Foliar trichome density appears to be the only trait that shows adaptive patterns of plasticity to drought. Plants from populations showing plasticity had higher trichome density when growing in soils with reduced moisture, and foliar trichome density was positively associated with total biomass.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • D.D. Ackerly S. Dudley S.E. Sultan J. Schmitt J.S. Coleman R. Linder D. Sandquist M.A. Geber A.S. Evans T.E. Dawson M. Lechowicz (2000) ArticleTitleThe evolution of plant ecophysiological traits: recent advances and future directions Bioscience 59 979–995

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Ågren D.W. Schemske (1993) ArticleTitleThe cost of defense against herbivores: an experimental study of trichome production in Brassica rapa Am. Nat. 141 338–350 Occurrence Handle10.1086/285477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Alpert (1996) ArticleTitleNitrogen sharing in natural clonal fragments of Fragaria chiloensis J. Ecol. 84 395–406

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Alpert E.L. Simms (2002) ArticleTitleThe relative advantages of plasticity and fixity in different environments: when is it good for a plant to adjust? Evol. Ecol. 16 285–297 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1019684612767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A.D. Bradshaw K. Hardwick (1989) ArticleTitleEvolution and stress – genotypic and phenotypic components Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 37 137–155

    Google Scholar 

  • S.A. Cook M.P. Johnson (1968) ArticleTitleAdaptation to heterogeneous environments I. Variation in heterophylly in Ranunculus flammula L Evolution 22 496–516

    Google Scholar 

  • K. Donohue E.H. Pyle D. Messiqua M.S. Heschel J. Schmitt (2001) ArticleTitleAdaptive divergence in plasticity in natural populations of Impatiens capensis and its consequences for performance in novel habitats Evolution 55 692–702 Occurrence Handle11392387

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • S.A. Dudley J. Schmitt (1996) ArticleTitleTesting the adaptive plasticity hypothesis: density-dependent selection on manipulated stem length in Impatiens capensis Am. Nat. 147 445–465 Occurrence Handle10.1086/285860

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J.R. Ehleringer O. Björkman (1978) ArticleTitlePubescence and leaf spectral characteristics in a desert shrub, Encelia farinosa Oecologia 36 151–162 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00349805

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J.R. Ehleringer H.A. Mooney (1978) ArticleTitleLeaf hairs: effects on physiological activity and adaptive value to a desert shrub Oecologia 37 183–200 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00344990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • L.F. Galloway (1995) ArticleTitleResponse to natural environmental heterogeneity: maternal effects and selection on life-history characters and plasticities in Mimulus guttatus Evolution 49 1095–1107

    Google Scholar 

  • E. Gianoli (2001) ArticleTitleLack of differential plasticity to shading of internodes and petioles with growth habit in Convolvulus arvensis (Convolvulaceae) Int. J. Plant Sci. 162 1247–1252 Occurrence Handle10.1086/322950

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E. Gianoli (2002) ArticleTitleMaternal environmental effects on the phenotypic responses of the twining vine Ipomoea purpurea to support availability Oikos 99 324–330 Occurrence Handle10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.990213.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E. Gianoli (2004) ArticleTitlePlasticity of traits and correlations in two populations of Convolvulus arvensis (Convolvulaceae) differing in environmental heterogeneity Int. J. Plant Sci. 165 825–832 Occurrence Handle10.1086/422050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A.V. González E. Gianoli (2004) ArticleTitleMorphological plasticity in response to shading in three Convolvulus species of different ecological breadth Acta Oecol. 26 185–190 Occurrence Handle10.1016/j.actao.2004.05.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. Grace (1997) Plant water relations M.J. Crawley (Eds) Plant Ecology Blackwell Scientific Publications Oxford 28–50

    Google Scholar 

  • M.S. Heschel K. Donohue N. Hausmann J. Schmitt (2002) ArticleTitlePopulation differentiation and natural selection for water-use efficiency in Impatiens capensis (Balsaminaceae) Int. J. Plant Sci. 163 907–912 Occurrence Handle10.1086/342519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M.S. Heschel S.E. Sultan S. Glover D. Sloan (2004) ArticleTitlePopulation differentiation and plastic responses to drought stress in the generalist annual Polygonum persicaria Int. J. Plant Sci. 165 817–824 Occurrence Handle10.1086/421477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M.J. Lechowicz P.A. Blais (1988) ArticleTitleAssessing the contributions of multiple interacting traits to plant reproductive success: environmental dependence J. Evol. Biol. 1 255–273 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1420-9101.1998.1030255.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Y.B. Linhart M.C. Grant (1996) ArticleTitleEvolutionary significance of local genetic differentiation in plants Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 27 237–277 Occurrence Handle10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.27.1.237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C. Maldonado F. Squeo E. Ibacache (2003) ArticleTitlePhenotypic response of Lycopersicon chilense to water deficit Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat. 76 129–137

    Google Scholar 

  • C.A. O’ Donell (1957) ArticleTitleConvolvuloideas chilenas Bol. Soc. Arg. Bot. 6 144–184

    Google Scholar 

  • K. Oyama (1994) ArticleTitleEcological amplitude and differentiation among populations of Arabis serrata Fr. and Sav. (Brassicaceae) Int. J. Plant Sci. 155 220–234 Occurrence Handle10.1086/297161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. Pigliucci (2001) Phenotypic Plasticity: Beyond Nature and Nurture Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Pigliucci C.D. Schlichting (1996) ArticleTitleReaction norms of Arabidopsis. IV. Relationships between plasticity and fitness Heredity 76 427–436 Occurrence Handle8666543

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • G.A.J. Platenkamp (1990) ArticleTitlePhenotypic plasticity and genetic differentiation in the demography of the grass Anthoxanthum odoratum J. Ecol. 78 772–788

    Google Scholar 

  • D.A. Roach R.D. Wulff (1987) ArticleTitleMaternal effects in plants Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 18 209–235 Occurrence Handle10.1146/annurev.es.18.110187.001233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C.D. Schlichting M. Pigliucci (1995) ArticleTitleLost in phenotypic space: environment-dependent morphology in Phlox drummondii (Polemoniaceae) Int. J. Plant Sci. 156 542–546 Occurrence Handle10.1086/297277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C.D. Schlichting M. Pigliucci (1998) Phenotypic Evolution: A Reaction Norm Perspective Sinauer Associates Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • K.E. Schwaegerle F.A. Bazzaz (1987) ArticleTitleDifferentiation among nine populations of Phlox: response to environmental gradients Ecology 68 54–64

    Google Scholar 

  • L.H. Suárez W.L. Gonzáles E. Gianoli (2004) ArticleTitleBiología reproductiva de Convolvulus chilensis (Convolvulaceae) en una población de Aucó (Centro-Norte de Chile) Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat. 77 581–591

    Google Scholar 

  • S.E. Sultan (1995) ArticleTitlePhenotypic plasticity and plant adaptation Acta Bot. Neerl. 44 363–383

    Google Scholar 

  • S.E. Sultan F.A. Bazzaz (1993) ArticleTitlePhenotypic plasticity in Polygonum persicaria. II. Norms of reaction to soil moisture and the maintenance of genetic diversity Evolution 47 1032–1049

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Kleunen Particlevan M. Fischer (2001) ArticleTitleAdaptive evolution of plastic foraging responses in a clonal plant Ecology 82 3309–3319

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Weinig (2000) ArticleTitlePlasticity versus canalization: population differences in the timing of shade-avoidance responses Evolution 54 441–451 Occurrence Handle10937221

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • A.A. Winn (1999) ArticleTitleIs seasonal variation in leaf traits adaptive for the annual plant Dicerandra linearifolia? J. Evol. Biol. 12 306–313 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1420-9101.1999.00031.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. Zhang M.J. Lechowicz (1994) ArticleTitleCorrelation between time of flowering and phenotypic plasticity in Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae) Am. J. Bot. 81 1336–1342

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ECOBIOSIS, Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile

    Ernesto Gianoli & Marcia González-Teuber

Authors
  1. Ernesto Gianoli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marcia González-Teuber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ernesto Gianoli.

Additional information

Co-ordinating editor: F. Stuefer

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gianoli, E., González-Teuber, M. Environmental Heterogeneity and Population Differentiation in Plasticity to Drought in Convolvulus Chilensis (Convolvulaceae). Evol Ecol 19, 603–613 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-005-2220-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-005-2220-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation