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The Role of Population Origin and Microenvironment in Seedling Emergence and Early Survival in Mediterranean Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton).

Vizcaíno-Palomar, Natalia ; Revuelta Eugercios, Bárbara LU ; Zavala, Miguel A ; Alía, Ricardo and González-Martínez, Santiago C (2014) In PLoS ONE 9(10).
Abstract
Understanding tree recruitment is needed to forecast future forest distribution. Many studies have reported the relevant ecological factors that affect recruitment success in trees, but the potential for genetic-based differences in recruitment has often been neglected. In this study, we established a semi-natural reciprocal sowing experiment to test for local adaptation and microenvironment effects (evaluated here by canopy cover) in the emergence and early survival of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton), an emblematic Mediterranean forest tree. A novel application of molecular markers was also developed to test for family selection and, thus, for potential genetic change over generations. Overall, we did not find evidence to support... (More)
Understanding tree recruitment is needed to forecast future forest distribution. Many studies have reported the relevant ecological factors that affect recruitment success in trees, but the potential for genetic-based differences in recruitment has often been neglected. In this study, we established a semi-natural reciprocal sowing experiment to test for local adaptation and microenvironment effects (evaluated here by canopy cover) in the emergence and early survival of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton), an emblematic Mediterranean forest tree. A novel application of molecular markers was also developed to test for family selection and, thus, for potential genetic change over generations. Overall, we did not find evidence to support local adaptation at the recruitment stage in our semi-natural experiment. Moreover, only weak family selection (if any) was found, suggesting that in stressful environments with low survival, stochastic processes and among-year climate variability may drive recruitment. Nevertheless, our study revealed that, at early stages of recruitment, microenvironments may favor the population with the best adapted life strategy, irrespectively of its (local or non-local) origin. We also found that emergence time is a key factor for seedling survival in stressful Mediterranean environments. Our study highlights the complexity of the factors influencing the early stages of establishment of maritime pine and provides insights into possible management actions aimed at environmental change impact mitigation. In particular, we found that the high stochasticity of the recruitment process in stressful environments and the differences in population-specific adaptive strategies may difficult assisted migration schemes. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
PLoS ONE
volume
9
issue
10
article number
e109132
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:25286410
  • wos:000345743700047
  • scopus:84907704535
  • pmid:25286410
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0109132
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
656f5301-ce12-40ef-a796-c04f2b914a6a (old id 4737623)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:05:15
date last changed
2022-03-21 22:11:04
@article{656f5301-ce12-40ef-a796-c04f2b914a6a,
  abstract     = {{Understanding tree recruitment is needed to forecast future forest distribution. Many studies have reported the relevant ecological factors that affect recruitment success in trees, but the potential for genetic-based differences in recruitment has often been neglected. In this study, we established a semi-natural reciprocal sowing experiment to test for local adaptation and microenvironment effects (evaluated here by canopy cover) in the emergence and early survival of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton), an emblematic Mediterranean forest tree. A novel application of molecular markers was also developed to test for family selection and, thus, for potential genetic change over generations. Overall, we did not find evidence to support local adaptation at the recruitment stage in our semi-natural experiment. Moreover, only weak family selection (if any) was found, suggesting that in stressful environments with low survival, stochastic processes and among-year climate variability may drive recruitment. Nevertheless, our study revealed that, at early stages of recruitment, microenvironments may favor the population with the best adapted life strategy, irrespectively of its (local or non-local) origin. We also found that emergence time is a key factor for seedling survival in stressful Mediterranean environments. Our study highlights the complexity of the factors influencing the early stages of establishment of maritime pine and provides insights into possible management actions aimed at environmental change impact mitigation. In particular, we found that the high stochasticity of the recruitment process in stressful environments and the differences in population-specific adaptive strategies may difficult assisted migration schemes.}},
  author       = {{Vizcaíno-Palomar, Natalia and Revuelta Eugercios, Bárbara and Zavala, Miguel A and Alía, Ricardo and González-Martínez, Santiago C}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{The Role of Population Origin and Microenvironment in Seedling Emergence and Early Survival in Mediterranean Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton).}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3771629/4777632.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0109132}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}