Wildflowers evolved fast during drought, but only at range edges
Pennington LK, Sexton JP
Climate Adaptation
Watching how a single wildflower species shifts its flowering timing and survival within just a few generations gives home gardeners and native-plant restorers a preview of which plants in their own region might thrive, and which might disappear, as droughts intensify.
Researchers had seeds of a small annual wildflower called Erythranthe laciniata that were collected years before a massive drought hit the western US, plus seeds collected right when the drought peaked. By planting both batches side by side in real mountain locations, they could see evolution happening in real time. The drought generation flowered faster and produced more flowers at high elevations, showing rapid adaptation, but plants from lower, warmer parts of the range did poorly, suggesting those populations could disappear as droughts become more common.
Key Findings
Over 2,100 seed replicates from nine populations, collected before and during the 2012-2016 drought, were grown in three common gardens at low, central, and high elevations.
The drought-era generation showed higher fitness and faster flowering (phenology) than the pre-drought generation, but only at the high-elevation garden.
Low-elevation populations outperformed central populations at the central garden, revealing an adaptive lag that could foreshadow range contraction at lower elevations under continued climate change.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists grew seeds of a wildflower collected before and during California's severe 2012-2016 drought, and found that plants at the edge of the species' mountain range evolved faster flowering and better survival, while populations at lower elevations struggled, hinting that the species' range may shrink as the climate keeps changing.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Resurrected in the field: benefits of rapid adaptation to historic drought seen mainly at the leading edge of a plant species' range.
Montane plant populations are experiencing novel conditions due to climate change. Furthermore, climate change is causing increased climate perturbations, such as the 2012-2016 drought in the weste...
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Erythranthe laciniata, synonym Mimulus laciniatus, is an uncommon species of flowering plant known by the common name cutleaf monkeyflower, it is endemic to the Sierra Nevada in California.