A genetic analysis of the photosynthetic properties of populations of Danthonia spicata that have different growth responses to light level

Summary Three populations of the grass Danthonia spicata were observed to have different rates of biomass accumulation when grown in common environment treatments. The populations were native to adjacent sites of different successional age and different levels of shading. Twelve individuals from each population were clonally replicated and two replicates were grown in each of two light treatments, 100% and 22% of unshaded sunlight. Following growth in the treatments the populations all exhibited the same mean light-saturated photosynthetic rate of 11.7 mol m^-2s^-1. This rate is intermediate for published values of sun and shade species and for species from along a successional gradient. There was no difference in photosynthetic rate among treatments. There was significant genetic variation for lightsaturated photosynthetic rate within populations but no significant differences among populations. The populations had similar leaf water potential values of-1.12 MPa in all treatments. There were significant differences among treatments and genotypes for specific leaf weight which resulted in significant differences among treatments and no significant differences among genotypes in light-saturated photosynthetic rate expressed on a leaf weight basis. Lightsaturated photosynthetic rate had a high heritability and low plasticity. We postulate that photosynthetic rate is under strong selection and that the observed rates permit populations of D. spicata to grow in a wide range of habitat light levels.     

Plasticity to daylength of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Iris pumila</Emphasis> leaf phenological traits

 Plastic responses to photoperiod of Iris pumila leaf phenological traits were investigated in two populations experiencing contrasting light conditions in the dune system at Deliblato Sands (44°48′ N, 38°58′ E; Serbia, Yugoslavia). The population “Dune” occupied an exposed area at the top and slope of a relatively large dune, and the population “Woods” was situated in the understory of a Pinus nigra stand. Plants developed from rhizome segments of 15 and 12 clonal genotypes sampled individually in an exposed and a shaded site, respectively, were grown under alternating daylength conditions (long day, 16 h; short day, 8 h) in an environmentally controlled growth room, and scored for a number of leaf traits (live and senescent leaf number per ramet, leaf longevity, and phyllochron). The photoperiodic treatments used significantly affected the phenotypic values of all traits analyzed, regardless of the population origin. Leaf longevity decreased, whereas the proportion of senescent to live leaves increased under short as compared to long photoperiod. The amount of plasticity to daylength appeared to be strongly trait specific: senescent leaf number was the most plastic, and live leaf number per ramet the least plastic trait, in both populations. The factorial ANOVAs did not reveal a significant population effect on any of the leaf traits observed, except the phyllochron, indicating the presence of genetic variation between populations only for that particular trait. A statistically significant interaction term obtained in each of the ANOVAs provides the evidence of the existence of genetic variation for plasticity in all the leaf phenological traits studied. Genetic correlations among all trait pairs were close to zero and mostly statistically nonsignificant, indicating that the analyzed I. pumila leaf phenological traits are not genetically constrained to evolve by natural selection toward their optimal reaction norms within each light habitat. Received: September 17, 2002 / Accepted: February 28, 2003     

Intraspecific genetic variation of a Fagus sylvatica population in a temperate forest derived from airborne imaging spectroscopy time series

1. The growing pace of environmental change has increased the need for large‐scale monitoring of biodiversity. Declining intraspecific genetic variation is likely a critical factor in biodiversity loss, but is especially difficult to monitor: assessments of genetic variation are commonly based on measuring allele pools, which requires sampling of individuals and extensive sample processing, limiting spatial coverage. Alternatively, imaging spectroscopy data from remote platforms may hold the potential to reveal genetic structure of populations. In this study, we investigated how differences detected in an airborne imaging spectroscopy time series correspond to genetic variation within a population of Fagus sylvatica under natural conditions.
2. We used multi‐annual APEX (Airborne Prism Experiment) imaging spectrometer data from a temperate forest located in the Swiss midlands (Laegern, 47°28'N, 8°21'E), along with microsatellite data from F. sylvatica individuals collected at the site. We identified variation in foliar reflectance independent of annual and seasonal changes which we hypothesize is more likely to correspond to stable genetic differences. We established a direct connection between the spectroscopy and genetics data by using partial least squares (PLS) regression to predict the probability of belonging to a genetic cluster from spectral data.
3. We achieved the best genetic structure prediction by using derivatives of reflectance and a subset of wavebands rather than full‐analyzed spectra. Our model indicates that spectral regions related to leaf water content, phenols, pigments, and wax composition contribute most to the ability of this approach to predict genetic structure of F. sylvatica population in natural conditions.
4. This study advances the use of airborne imaging spectroscopy to assess tree genetic diversity at canopy level under natural conditions, which could overcome current spatiotemporal limitations on monitoring, understanding, and preventing genetic biodiversity loss imposed by requirements for extensive in situ sampling.

     

玉米叶片水分利用效率的保守性

水分利用效率是植物个体或生态系统水分利用过程的重要特征参数,可表征不同时空尺度的植物碳-水耦合关系,对植物适应气候变化研究具有重要意义。以玉米为例,利用中国气象局固城农业气象野外科学试验基地2013—2014年玉米不同灌溉方案模拟试验资料,对不同叶位叶片的水分利用效率特征及其影响因素进行分析。结果表明:植株顶部第1片叶片水分利用效率在拔节期和乳熟期呈现明显的峰值,反映出明显的周期变化规律及其与叶片生理生态特征的紧密相关。在相同环境条件下,不同叶位叶片的水分利用效率不存在显著性差异,即玉米叶片水分利用效率具有空间稳定性与叶龄保守性。同时,研究指出叶片光合速率和蒸腾速率在叶位之间的协调变化是导致空间稳定性和叶龄保守性的主要原因。研究结果可为植物水分关系研究提供参考,也可为水分利用效率的尺度化研究提供依据。     

Contrasting patterns of morphological and physiological differentiation across insular environments: phenotypic variation and heritability of light-related traits in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Olea europaea</Emphasis>

Phenotypic variation of traits can reflect the ability of plants to adjust to particular environments, but how much of this variation is heritable is not frequently analyzed in natural populations. In the present paper, we investigated the patterns of phenotypic expression in light-related leaf traits of Olea europaea subsp. guanchica, a woody sclerophyllous species endemic to the Canary Islands. We explored phenotypic differentiation and heritable variation across several island populations differing in light environment. A suite of morpho-functional (leaf size, SLA and leaf angle) and physiological (pigment pools: Chl a/b ratio, xantophyll cycle and β-carotene) traits was measured in six populations on three islands. In addition, we estimated heritabilities for these traits following Ritland’s method. Variation in morpho-functional, but not in physiological, traits was observed across the islands and was significantly related to the amount of diffuse light experienced by each population. In addition, significant heritabilities were found for morpho-functional traits, whereas expression of similar phenotypes among populations was accompanied by a lack of heritable variation in physiological traits. Most recently established populations did not exhibit lower heritabilities in quantitative traits than older populations, and apparently displayed congruent phenotypes under the local conditions. Our results strongly support the idea that different types of traits show contrasted levels of genetic and phenotypic variation in populations experiencing marked environmental differences.     

东北地区森林凋落叶分解速率与气候、林型、林分光照的关系

在东北长白山、张广才岭、小兴安岭、大兴安岭的主要森林类型中设置26块样地,进行为期3a(2004—2006年)凋落叶分解实验,以研究气候、林型、林冠透光率对凋落叶分解速率的相对影响大小。结果表明,不同林型凋落叶分解速率依次为:落叶阔叶林针阔叶混交林落叶针叶林常绿针叶林岳桦林。对分解速率影响因素的分析表明,气候因子(热量和水分)对分解速率有较强的解释力,分别解释了分解常数k和分解95%所需时间(t95%)的55.5%和65.0%的变异。但是,气候对分解速率的影响在很大程度上是通过与林型、林冠透光率的协同作用而实现的,其独立解释力并不大(9%)。气候的变化导致林型(物种组成)的变化、进而影响分解速率,这一因素解释了分解参数变异的46.8%(k)和56.8%(t95%)。与此同时,气候和林型的变化还导致林冠透光率的变化,随着热量水平的上升林冠透光率下降、间接提高分解速率。这一因素分别解释了k值和t95%变异的23.9%和22.3%。研究结果表明,气候对凋落叶分解的影响主要是通过对物种组成、林冠结构(影响透光率)等生物因素的间接作用实现的。忽视这些生物因素、简单研究气候和分解速率的关系可能难以正确预测未来气候变化对凋落物分解的影响。     

Persistence of transgenes in wild rice populations depends on the interaction between genetic background of recipients and environmental conditions

The persistence of transgenes in wild populations may cause unintended ecological consequences, and the possibility of transgenes' persistence and introgression is dependent on fitness performance of transgenic crop–wild hybrids. To investigate the effects of transgene and genotype × environment on the fitness of crop–wild rice hybrids, a total of 11 cross‐combination progenies between insect‐resistant transgene (CpTI and Bt/CpTI) rice lines and wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) were evaluated at different sites with contrasting insect treatments. The results showed that fitness performance varied between transgenic hybrids having different wild parents and under different environmental conditions, indicating that fitness effects of transgenes on hybrid progenies depend heavily on the genetic background of recipient plants and growing environment. Significant fitness advantages conferred by transgenes were found only in some hybrids under high insect pressure condition, demonstrating that the level of target insects in the field environment influences the persistence and spread of insect‐resistant transgenes in wild rice populations. These findings suggest that evolutionary fate of escaped transgenes is different in wild populations with diverse genetic backgrounds under various environmental conditions.     

Genetic variation in the life‐history traits of Epiphyas postvittana: population structure and local adaptation

The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) shows high intraspecific variability in morphological, physiological, demographic and behavioural characters. To gain insight into the extent of adaptation and evolutionary changes in response to environmental heterogeneity in this species, quantitative genetic analyses of life‐history variation were conducted for two natural populations under two thermal conditions (23°C and 28°C). Paternal half‐sib heritability and genetic correlation in six life‐history traits (i.e. development time, adult body weight, adult lifespan, age at first reproduction, the number of eggs laid during the first 5 days after emergence, and total fecundity) were compared. Significant heritabilities were shown consistently in development time; this is also true for adult body weight, except for the Canberra population at 23°C. However, neither population differences nor the effect of temperature were statistically detectable for any of these heritabilities, confirming the genetically determined flexibility. Positive genetic correlations between development time and adult body weight, and negative genetic correlations between the number of eggs laid during the first 5 days and adult lifespan were present for these populations at both temperatures, indicating the presence of genetic constraints. Pairwise comparisons of genetic correlations revealed the heterogeneity of the two populations and across temperatures. These results suggest that the structure of genetic covariance might have changed significantly during the divergence of natural populations and in response to the alteration of environmental conditions in E. postvittana.     

Genetic diversity and population structure in Elephantopus scaber (Asteraceae) from South China as revealed by ISSR markers

Abstract

We used inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers to investigate genetic variation in eight natural populations of Elephantopus scaber from South China, including Guangdong, Hainan and Hong Kong. Eleven primers produced 247 bands across all 184 individuals, of which 243 (98.4%) were polymorphic. The average genetic diversity at the species and population levels was estimated to be 0.283 and 0.103, respectively, using mean expected heterozygosity. The average gene differentiation (F _ST) among populations was 0.725. AMOVA analysis showed that the partition of molecular variation between and within populations was 72.5% and 27.5%, respectively. The effective number of migrants among populations based on the F _ST was relatively low (N _m = 0.095). Cluster analysis based on Nei's genetic distance and the neighbour-joining method revealed the genetic relationships among the populations of E. scaber. The Mantel test indicated that there was no significant correlation between population genetic and geographic distances. The results obtained from the AMOVA analysis, the cluster analysis, and the Mantel test all suggested that fragmented local environments and human disturbance might play important roles in shaping the population structure of E. scaber.     

Heritable variation in garter snake color patterns in postglacial populations

Global climate change is expected to trigger northward shifts in the ranges of natural populations of plants and animals, with subsequent effects on intraspecific genetic diversity. Investigating how genetic diversity is patterned among populations that arose following the last Ice Age is a promising method for understanding the potential future effects of climate change. Theoretical and empirical work has suggested that overall genetic diversity can decrease in colonial populations following rapid expansion into postglacial landscapes, with potential negative effects on the ability of populations to adapt to new environmental regimes. The crucial measure of this genetic variation and a population''s overall adaptability is the heritable variation in phenotypic traits, as it is this variation that mediates the rate and direction of a population''s multigenerational response to selection. Using two large full-sib quantitative genetic studies (N_Manitoba = 144; N_{South Dakota} = 653) and a smaller phenotypic analysis from Kansas (N_Kansas = 44), we compared mean levels of pigmentation, genetic variation and heritability in three pigmentation traits among populations of the common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, along a north-south gradient, including a postglacial northern population and a putative southern refuge population. Counter to our expectations, we found that genetic variance and heritability for the three pigmentation traits were the same or higher in the postglacial population than in the southern population.     

基于线粒体控制区的嘉陵裸裂尻鱼种群遗传结构分析

嘉陵裸裂尻鱼为青藏高原特有鱼类,近年来随自然地理气候的变迁和人类活动的影响,种群数量急剧减少。为了解嘉陵裸裂尻鱼的遗传背景以便更好的保护其遗传资源,本研究采用线粒体控制区部分序列变异,分析了嘉陵裸裂尻鱼6个地理种群的遗传结构和分布动态。在147尾个体中共发现17个变异位点,定义了14种单倍型,群体总的单倍型多样性较高为0.810,核苷酸多样性低为0.00698。AMOVA分析显示,44.29%的分子差异源于群体间,55.71%的分子差异源于群体内,群体间遗传分化极显著。Fst值统计检验表明,除宕昌群体和舟曲群体之间差异不显著外,其余两两群体之间Fst值统计检验均显著。基因流估计显示各群体间的基因流水平较高,遗传交流较频繁。Mantel test检验表明,嘉陵裸裂尻鱼种群之间遗传分化程度与地理距离存在显著相关。系统树和单倍型网络进化图显示,6个地理群体的单倍型按照嘉陵江水系和渭河水系形成两个大的类群。错配分布和中性检验表明嘉陵裸裂尻鱼群体在近期历史上群体大小保持稳定,未出现显著的种群扩张。根据本文所揭示的嘉陵裸裂尻鱼种群遗传结构特征,建议将分布在嘉陵江水系的嘉陵裸裂尻鱼作为一个整体进行保护,嘉陵裸裂尻鱼渭河种群属高度分化的单倍型类群,且遗传多样性极低,需对该种群进行优先保护。     

Natural selection on ecophysiological traits of a fern species in a temperate rainforest

Unlike other species of the genus Blechnum, the fern Blechnum chilense occurs in a wide range of habitats in Chilean temperate rainforest, from shaded forest understories to abandoned clearings and large gaps. We asked if contrasting light environments can exert differential selection on ecophysiological traits of B. chilense. We measured phenotypic selection on functional traits related to carbon gain: photosynthetic capacity (A _max), dark respiration rate (R _d), water use efficiency (WUE), leaf size and leaf thickness in populations growing in gaps and understorey environments. We assessed survival until reproductive stage and fecundity (sporangia production) as fitness components. In order to determine the potential evolutionary response of traits under selection, we estimated the genetic variation of these traits from clonally propagated individuals in common garden experiments. In gaps, survival of B. chilense was positively correlated with WUE and negatively correlated with leaf size. In contrast, survival in shaded understories was positively correlated with leaf size. We found positive directional fecundity selection on WUE in gaps population. In understories, ferns of lower R _d and greater leaf size showed greater fecundity. Thus, whereas control of water loss was optimized in gaps, light capture and net carbon balance were optimized in shaded understories. We found a significant genetic component of variation in WUE, R _d and leaf size. This study shows the potential for evolutionary responses to heterogeneous light environments in functional traits of B. chilense, a unique fern species able to occupy a broad successional niche in Chilean temperate rainforest.     

ENVIRONMENTAL AND GENETIC DETERMINANTS OF PLANT SIZE IN VIOLA SORORIA

Survivorship and fecundity in the forest herb, Viola sororia, are size-dependent. The basis of size variation among individuals of Viola sororia was investigated with a uniform environment experiment. Plants collected from natural populations were vegetatively reproduced and grown under two light regimes in a greenhouse. Analysis of quantitative variation showed: 1) significant differences between light treatments for characters related to plant shape and relative growth rate; 2) significant among-genet variation for plant size, plant shape and relative growth rate but none for physiological characters; and 3) a size threshold for cleistogamous seed production and rhizome production. Heritability estimates for the characters associated with plant size and shape ranged from 0.09 to 0.39, indicating significant genetic determination for these traits. In addition, among-genet differences in relative growth rate were substantial. The results of this study suggest that the size variation found in natural populations is not solely a function of environmental heterogeneity but is significantly influenced by the genotypes composing the population.     

MORPHOLOGICAL AND GENETIC VARIATION IN ECOLOGICALLY CENTRAL AND MARGINAL POPULATIONS OF RUMEX ACETOSELLA L. (POLYGONACEAE)

Six ecologically central (old field) and marginal (strip mine) populations of the hexaploid Rumex acetosella were collected, grown under uniform conditions, and examined for genetic and morphological variation. Extensive electrophoretic variation was found in alcohol dehydrogenase and phosphoglucose isomerase, while other enzymes surveyed showed little or no variation. Hedrick's genotypic measure of identity revealed mean values of 0.506 for central populations, 0.836 for marginal populations, and 0.633 for comparisons of central with marginal populations. Alcohol dehydrogenase phenotypes had significantly fewer electromorphs per individual in marginal populations. Clones of individuals from both environments were subjected to different watering regimes. No significant differences in root/shoot ratio, leaf number, total leaf area, or relative growth rate were found between strip mine and old-field individuals within each watering treatment, although significant differences were found between watering treatments. There are small, but significant amounts of isozyme differentiation between central and marginal populations, while there was no such differentation for morphological characters.     

Short distances between extreme microhabitats do not result in ecotypes in Syntrichia caninervis

Abstract

Phenotypic variation occurs in many populations of plants. When this variation occurs along an environmental gradient, the immediate question is whether the variation is attributed to phenotypic plasticity, ecotypes, or some combination of the two. The moss Syntrichia caninervis appears morphologically variable along an environmental gradient changing rapidly from low light, low temperature, and high moisture levels in the understory microhabitat to high light, high temperature, and low moisture levels in the intershrub microhabitat. We tested for the presence of physiological variation using recovery from a heat-shock event in a mimicked microhabitat light environment, and for morphological variation using a common garden with the ultimate goal of attributing observed variation to plasticity, genetic variation, or a combination. The results suggest that plasticity plays a large role in trait variation. Photosynthetic recovery depended on the current light levels of an environment and not the original microhabitat. The supposed morphological variation in the field was not reflected in the test traits (awn length, leaf area, and shoot volume) and further growth in a common garden continued to show no variation between microhabitats.     

Moderate heritability and low evolvability of sperm morphology in a species with high risk of sperm competition,the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

Spermatozoa represent the morphologically most diverse type of animal cells and show remarkable variation in size across and also within species. To understand the evolution of this diversity, it is important to reveal to what degree this variation is genetic or environmental in origin and whether this depends on species’ life histories. Here we applied quantitative genetic methods to a pedigreed multigenerational data set of the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis, a passerine bird with high levels of extra‐pair paternity, to partition genetic and environmental sources of phenotypic variation in sperm dimensions for the first time in a natural population. Narrow‐sense heritability (h²) of total sperm length amounted to 0.44 ± 0.14 SE, whereas the corresponding figure for evolvability (estimated as coefficient of additive genetic variation, CV_a) was 0.02 ± 0.003 SE. We also found an increase in total sperm length within individual males between the arrival and nestling period. This seasonal variation may reflect constraints in the production of fully elongated spermatozoa shortly after arrival at the breeding grounds. There was no evidence of an effect of male age on sperm dimensions. In many previous studies on laboratory populations of several insect, mammal and avian species, heritabilities of sperm morphology were higher, whereas evolvabilities were similar. Explanations for the differences in heritability may include variation in the environment (laboratory vs. wild), intensity of sexual selection via sperm competition (high vs. low) and genetic architecture that involves unusual linkage disequilibrium coupled with overdominance in one of the studied species.     

Variation for phenotypic plasticity among populations of an invasive exotic grass

Phenotypic plasticity is a common feature of plant invaders, but little is known about variation in plasticity among invading populations. Variation in plasticity of ecologically important traits could facilitate the evolution of greater plasticity and invasiveness. We examined plasticity among invasive populations of Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stiltgrass), a widespread and often dominant grass of forests in the eastern U.S. with two separate experiments. First, we exposed seven Microstegium populations to a drought treatment in growth chambers and monitored growth and physiological responses. Then, we established a greenhouse experiment using a subset of the populations; two that exhibited the most divergent responses and one intermediate population. In the greenhouse, we manipulated drought and shade and evaluated biomass production and specific leaf area (SLA). Microstegium exhibited plasticity for biomass production and SLA in the greenhouse experiment, and populations significantly varied in the degree of plasticity under drought and shade treatments. Two populations significantly increased biomass production under favorable conditions, unlike the third population. The most productive populations also responded to shade stress via greater SLA, possibly allowing for greater utilization of available light, while the third population did not. These results show that Microstegium can exhibit plastic responses to environmental conditions. Moreover, variation for plasticity among populations provides the potential for further evolution of plasticity. Future studies should focus on the relative importance of plasticity for the success of Microstegium and other plant invaders and evaluate post-introduction evolution of plasticity.     

The plasticity of phenotypic integration in response to light and water availability in the pepper grass, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lepidium bonariense</Emphasis>

Organisms that live in a heterogeneous environment face a number of important challenges. On one hand, they require the flexibility to respond to environmental conditions and change their phenotype accordingly. On the other, they are required to be robust in their overall body plan to ensure an integrated, functional organism. Here, we examine the relationship between phenotypic plasticity and integration in the common peppergrass, Lepidium bonariense, by examining the multivariate response of a series of functional traits to a combination of light and water treatments. Lepidium bonariense displayed considerable variation in phenotype in response to water and light availability with the extraction of the first two principal components retaining 85% of the total variation in our data set. Principal component 1 (PC1) largely reflects the negative genetic correlation between specific leaf area and overall plant size, whereas PC2 was typical of a shade-avoidance syndrome displayed by many species of vascular plants. Both PC1 and PC2 exhibited considerable variation among genotypes in phenotypic plasticity in response to the combined effect of light and water availability. Despite complex plasticity in this species, we demonstrate that variation in light and water availability did not significantly influence patterns of functional trait integration, with the genetic variance–covariance matrix remaining stable across environments.     

COMPETITION PROLONGS EXPRESSION OF MATERNAL EFFECTS IN SEEDLINGS OF ERIGERON ANNUUS (ASTERACEAE)

The timing of expression of environmental maternal effects on seedling growth was investigated in greenhouse-grown populations of Erigeron annuus (Asteraceae). Maternal differences were generated in genetically identical lines grown under high and low nutrient conditions. There were significant differences among maternal families within genotypes for seed size, cotyledon size, number of leaves, and rosette diameter. When seedlings were grown individually, effects of the maternal fertilizer treatment on leaf number and rosette diameter were present early but could not be detected after eight weeks. When seedlings from HIGH and LOW lines were grown in competition, the maternal effects and the relative size advantage of seedlings from HIGH parents increased throughout the experiment. Most of the variation among nutrient treatments for seedling size characters could be explained by variation in initial seed size. In the competition experiment, the increasing magnitude of maternal environmental differences over time masked genetic variation for seedling characters; without competition, the relative contribution of genetic variation increased through time. Under competitive conditions that generate persistent maternal effects on fitness, maternal environmental effects may retard natural selection.     

Natural selection and neutral evolutionary processes contribute to genetic divergence in leaf traits across a precipitation gradient in the tropical oak Quercus oleoides

The impacts of drought are expanding worldwide as a consequence of climate change. However, there is still little knowledge of how species respond to long‐term selection in seasonally dry ecosystems. In this study, we used Q_ST‐F_ST comparisons to investigate (i) the role of natural selection on population genetic differentiation for a set of functional traits related to drought resistance in the seasonally dry tropical oak Quercus oleoides and (ii) the influence of water availability at the site of population origin and in experimental treatments on patterns of trait divergence. We conducted a thorough phenotypic characterization of 1912 seedlings from ten populations growing in field and greenhouse common gardens under replicated watering treatments. We also genotyped 218 individuals from the same set of populations using eleven nuclear microsatellites. Q_ST distributions for leaf lamina area, specific leaf area, leaf thickness and stomatal pore index were higher than F_ST distribution. Results were consistent across growth environments. Genetic differentiation among populations for these functional traits was associated with the index of moisture at the origin of the populations. Together, our results suggest that drought is an important selective agent for Q. oleoides and that differences in length and severity of the dry season have driven the evolution of genetic differences in functional traits.