How does contemporary selection shape oak phenotypes?

Most existing forests are subjected to natural and human‐mediated selection pressures, which have increased due to climate change and the increasing needs of human societies for wood, fibre and fuel resources. It remains largely unknown how these pressures trigger evolutionary changes. We address th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Evolutionary applications 2020-12, Vol.13 (10), p.2772-2790
Main Authors: Alexandre, Hermine, Truffaut, Laura, Klein, Etienne, Ducousso, Alexis, Chancerel, Emilie, Lesur, Isabelle, Dencausse, Benjamin, Louvet, Jean‐Marc, Nepveu, Gérard, Torres‐Ruiz, José M., Lagane, Frédéric, Musch, Brigitte, Delzon, Sylvain, Kremer, Antoine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Climate change
fitness
Forests
Genetic diversity
Genetic engineering
Hardwoods
Life Sciences
Metabolism
Original
Phenotypes
Phenotypic variations
Population
Quantitative genetics
Quercus petraea
Quercus robur
second theorem of selection
selection gradients
Species
Trees
Trends
Vegetal Biology
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Summary:Most existing forests are subjected to natural and human‐mediated selection pressures, which have increased due to climate change and the increasing needs of human societies for wood, fibre and fuel resources. It remains largely unknown how these pressures trigger evolutionary changes. We address this issue here for temperate European oaks (Quercus petraea and Q. robur), which grow in mixed stands, under even‐aged management regimes. We screened numerous functional traits for univariate selection gradients and for expected and observed genetic changes over two successive generations. In both species, growth, leaf morphology and physiology, and defence‐related traits displayed significant selection gradients and predicted shifts, whereas phenology, water metabolism, structure and resilience‐related traits did not. However, the direction of the selection response and the potential for adaptive evolution differed between the two species. Quercus petraea had a much larger phenotypic and genetic variance of fitness than Q. robur. This difference raises concerns about the adaptive response of Q. robur to contemporary selection pressures. Our investigations suggest that Q. robur will probably decline steadily, particularly in mixed stands with Q. petraea, consistent with the contrasting demographic dynamics of the two species.
ISSN:1752-4571
1752-4563
1752-4571
DOI:10.1111/eva.13082