Effects of Temperature and Moisture Variables on Brown Rust Epidemics in Sugarcane

Epidemics of brown rust in sugarcane, caused by Puccinia melanocephala, vary in severity between seasons. Natural epidemics were studied to determine the effects of temperature and moisture variables on epidemic onset, severity and decline. Variables were monitored with disease severity in two cultivars, each grown at a different location in Louisiana. Maximum daily temperature was the variable most correlated with seasonal epidemic development and decline. Disease severity was high during 2009 and low during 2010. This contrast allowed evaluation of the effects of conducive and limiting environmental conditions on severity. Lower severity resulted from a combination of unfavourable temperature and leaf wetness conditions that delayed onset then reduced the rate of disease increase. An accumulation of 23–25 days with leaf wetness periods of at least 7 h after the daily minimum temperature exceeded 17°C preceded the onset of disease on young leaves in both severe and mild epidemics. Severe epidemics in both cultivars declined once maximum ambient daily temperature was 32°C or higher. Low and high limiting temperatures determined the initiation and decline of an epidemic, respectively, under Louisiana climatic conditions. The availability of leaf wetness was then an important determinant of disease severity during the epidemic.     

Natural Stressors and Ranavirus Susceptibility in Larval Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica)

Chronic exposure to stressors has been shown to suppress immune function in vertebrates, making them more susceptible to pathogens. It is less clear, however, whether many natural stressors are immunosuppressive. Moreover, whether stressors make disease more likely or more severe in populations is unclear because animals respond to stressors both behaviorally and physiologically. We tested whether chronic exposure to three natural stressors of wood frog tadpoles—high-densities, predator-cues, and low-food conditions—influence their susceptibility to a lethal ranavirus both individually in laboratory experiments, and collectively in outdoor mesocosms. Prior to virus exposure, we observed elevated corticosterone only in low-food treatments, although other treatments altered rates of growth and development as well as tadpole behavior. None of the treatments, however, increased susceptibility to ranavirus as measured by the proportion of tadpoles that became infected or died, or the time to death compared to controls. In fact, mortality in the mesocosms was actually lower in the high-density treatment even though most individuals became infected, largely because of increased rates of metamorphosis. Overall we find no support for the hypothesis that chronic exposure to common, ecologically relevant challenges necessarily elevates corticosterone levels in a population or leads to more severe ranaviral disease or epidemics. Conditions may, however, conspire to make ranavirus infection more common in metamorphosing amphibians.     

Water Temperature Affects Susceptibility to Ranavirus

The occurrence of emerging infectious diseases in wildlife populations is increasing, and changes in environmental conditions have been hypothesized as a potential driver. For example, warmer ambient temperatures might favor pathogens by providing more ideal conditions for propagation or by stressing hosts. Our objective was to determine if water temperature played a role in the pathogenicity of an emerging pathogen (ranavirus) that infects ectothermic vertebrate species. We exposed larvae of four amphibian species to a Frog Virus 3 (FV3)-like ranavirus at two temperatures (10 and 25°C). We found that FV3 copies in tissues and mortality due to ranaviral disease were greater at 25°C than at 10°C for all species. In a second experiment with wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus), we found that a 2°C change (10 vs. 12°C) affected ranaviral disease outcomes, with greater infection and mortality at 12°C. There was evidence that 10°C stressed Cope’s gray tree frog (Hyla chrysoscelis) larvae, which is a species that breeds during summer—all individuals died at this temperature, but only 10% tested positive for FV3 infection. The greater pathogenicity of FV3 at 25°C might be related to faster viral replication, which in vitro studies have reported previously. Colder temperatures also may decrease systemic infection by reducing blood circulation and the proportion of phagocytes, which are known to disseminate FV3 through the body. Collectively, our results indicate that water temperature during larval development may play a role in the emergence of ranaviruses.     

The influence of landscape and environmental factors on ranavirus epidemiology in a California amphibian assemblage

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Impacts of thermal mismatches on chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis prevalence are moderated by life stage,body size,elevation and latitude

Global climate change is increasing the frequency of unpredictable weather conditions; however, it remains unclear how species‐level and geographic factors, including body size and latitude, moderate impacts of unusually warm or cool temperatures on disease. Because larger and lower‐latitude hosts generally have slower acclimation times than smaller and higher‐latitude hosts, we hypothesised that their disease susceptibility increases under ‘thermal mismatches’ or differences between baseline climate and the temperature during surveying for disease. Here, we examined how thermal mismatches interact with body size, life stage, habitat, latitude, elevation, phylogeny and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) conservation status to predict infection prevalence of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) in a global analysis of 32 291 amphibian hosts. As hypothesised, we found that the susceptibility of larger hosts and hosts from lower latitudes to Bd was influenced by thermal mismatches. Furthermore, hosts of conservation concern were more susceptible than others following thermal mismatches, suggesting that thermal mismatches might have contributed to recent amphibian declines.     

Evaluating environmental DNA‐based quantification of ranavirus infection in wood frog populations

A variety of challenges arise when monitoring wildlife populations for disease. Sampling tissues can be invasive to hosts, and obtaining sufficient sample sizes can be expensive and time‐consuming, particularly for rare species and when pathogen prevalence is low. Environmental DNA (eDNA)‐based detection of pathogens is an alternative approach to surveillance for aquatic communities that circumvents many of these issues. Ranaviruses are emerging pathogens of ectothermic vertebrates linked to die‐offs of amphibian populations. Detecting ranavirus infections is critical, but nonlethal methods have the above issues and are prone to false negatives. We report on the feasibility and effectiveness of eDNA‐based ranavirus detection in the field. We compared ranavirus titres in eDNA samples collected from pond water to titres in wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus; n = 5) tadpoles in sites dominated by this one species (n = 20 pond visits). We examined whether ranavirus DNA can be detected in eDNA from pond water when infections are present in the pond and if viral titres detected in eDNA samples correlate with the prevalence or intensity of ranavirus infections in tadpoles. With three 250 mL water samples, we were able to detect the virus in all visits with infected larvae (0.92 diagnostic sensitivity). Also, we found a strong relationship between the viral eDNA titres and titres in larval tissues. eDNA titres increased prior to observed die‐offs and declined afterwards, and were two orders of magnitude higher in ponds with a die‐off. Our results suggest that eDNA is useful for detecting ranavirus infections in wildlife and aquaculture.     

Effects of Temperature on Disease Severity in Plants of Subterranean Clover Infected Singly or in Mixed Infection with Bean yellow mosaic virus and Kabatiella caulivora

Many epidemics involve plants infected with more than one pathogen, but few experiments address climate change scenarios that influence mixed infections. This study addresses the interactive effects of co‐infection and temperature on disease development in plants of the annual pasture species subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum), which is widely sown in different world regions. Bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) and the fungus Kabatiella caulivora are two important pathogens causing considerable production losses in pastures containing this species. Both occur together in such pastures causing a severe necrotic disease when mixed infection occurs. Effects of temperature on symptom expression were investigated in subterranean clover plants infected singly or in mixed infection with these pathogens. Plants were maintained in controlled environment rooms at 18°C, 20°C or 22.5°C after sap inoculation with BYMV. K. caulivora conidia suspensions were inoculated to plants once systemic BYMV symptoms developed. Plants were assessed for three disease assessment parameters, dead petioles numbers, marginal leaflet necrosis and overall plant damage. In general, mixed infection caused most severe symptoms, K. caulivora least severe symptoms, and BYMV symptoms of intermediate severity. In single infections, effects of temperature on disease severity differed between pathogens: BYMV symptoms were most pronounced at 18°C, but K. caulivora induced more severe symptoms at 20°C and 22.5°C. In mixed infections, disease severity generally followed the pattern developed with BYMV alone as temperature increased. Also, synergistic increase in disease severity sometimes occurred at 18°C, but increases were only additive at 20°C and 22.5°C. These results reflected the greater BYMV multiplication detected in infected leaves at 18°C compared with 20°C or 22.5°C. Our findings indicate that in rainfed subterranean clover pastures, as global warming progresses disease severity from infection with BYMV and K. caulivora alone may decline or increase, respectively, and mixed infection with them may become less damaging.     

Robust geographical determinants of infection prevalence and a contrasting latitudinal diversity gradient for haemosporidian parasites in Western Palearctic birds

Identifying robust environmental predictors of infection probability is central to forecasting and mitigating the ongoing impacts of climate change on vector‐borne disease threats. We applied phylogenetic hierarchical models to a data set of 2,171 Western Palearctic individual birds from 47 species to determine how climate and landscape variation influence infection probability for three genera of haemosporidian blood parasites (Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, and Plasmodium). Our comparative models found compelling evidence that birds in areas with higher vegetation density (captured by the normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI]) had higher likelihoods of carrying parasite infection. Magnitudes of this relationship were remarkably similar across parasite genera considering that these parasites use different arthropod vectors and are widely presumed to be epidemiologically distinct. However, we also uncovered key differences among genera that highlighted complexities in their climate responses. In particular, prevalences of Haemoproteus and Plasmodium showed strong but contrasting relationships with winter temperatures, supporting mounting evidence that winter warming is a key environmental filter impacting the dynamics of host‐parasite interactions. Parasite phylogenetic community diversities demonstrated a clear but contrasting latitudinal gradient, with Haemoproteus diversity increasing towards the equator and Leucocytozoon diversity increasing towards the poles. Haemoproteus diversity also increased in regions with higher vegetation density, supporting our evidence that summer vegetation density is important for structuring the distributions of these parasites. Ongoing variation in winter temperatures and vegetation characteristics will probably have far‐reaching consequences for the transmission and spread of vector‐borne diseases.     

Variation in costs of parasite resistance among natural host populations

Organisms that can resist parasitic infection often have lower fitness in the absence of parasites. These costs of resistance can mediate host evolution during parasite epidemics. For example, large epidemics will select for increased host resistance. In contrast, small epidemics (or no disease) can select for increased host susceptibility when costly resistance allows more susceptible hosts to outcompete their resistant counterparts. Despite their importance for evolution in host populations, costs of resistance (which are also known as resistance trade‐offs) have mainly been examined in laboratory‐based host–parasite systems. Very few examples come from field‐collected hosts. Furthermore, little is known about how resistance trade‐offs vary across natural populations. We addressed these gaps using the freshwater crustacean Daphnia dentifera and its natural yeast parasite, Metschnikowia bicuspidata. We found a cost of resistance in two of the five populations we studied – those with the most genetic variation in resistance and the smallest epidemics in the previous year. However, yeast epidemics in the current year did not alter slopes of these trade‐offs before and after epidemics. In contrast, the no‐cost populations showed little variation in resistance, possibly because large yeast epidemics eroded that variation in the previous year. Consequently, our results demonstrate variation in costs of resistance in wild host populations. This variation has important implications for host evolution during epidemics in nature.     

Some (worms) like it hot: fish parasites grow faster in warmer water,and alter host thermal preferences

Elevated environmental temperatures associated with anthropogenic warming have the potential to impact host‐parasite interactions, with consequences for population health and ecosystem functioning. One way that elevated temperatures might influence parasite prevalence and intensity is by increasing life cycle completion rates. Here, we investigate how elevated temperatures impact a critical phase of the life cycle of the bird tapeworm Schistocephalus solidus – the growth of plerocercoid larvae in host fish (three‐spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus). By 8 weeks post‐infection, plerocercoids recovered from experimentally infected sticklebacks held at 20 °C weighed on average 104.9 mg, with all exceeding 50 mg, the mass considered consistently infective to definitive hosts. In contrast, plerocercoids from sticklebacks held at 15 °C weighed on average 26.5 mg, with none exceeding 50 mg. As small increases in plerocercoid mass affect adult fecundity disproportionately in this species, enhanced plerocercoid growth at higher temperatures predicts dramatically increased output of infective parasite stages. Subsequent screening of thermal preferences of sticklebacks from a population with endemic S. solidus infection demonstrated that fish harbouring infective plerocercoids show significant preferences for warmer temperatures. Our results therefore indicate that parasite transmission might be affected in at least two ways under anthropogenic warming; by enhancing rates of parasite growth and development, and by increasing the likelihood of hosts being able to seek out proliferating warmer microhabitats. Furthermore, our results suggest the potential for positive feedback between parasite growth and host thermal preferences, which could dramatically increase the effects of even small temperature increases. We discuss the possible mechanisms underpinning our results, their likely ecological consequences and highlight key areas for further research.     

Development of the gregarious ectoparasitoid Nasonia vitripennis using five species of necrophagous flies as hosts and at various developmental temperatures

The utility of five species of necrophagous flies (Diptera) as pupal hosts for Nasonia vitripennis (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) was examined by comparing incidences of parasitism, fecundity, and several features of wasp development at three rearing temperatures. Species differences in host suitability were evident in all life history features examined, with the highest incidences of parasitism, largest clutches and adult body sizes, and shortest periods of development occurring when the sarcophagid Sarcophaga bullata Parker served as hosts, regardless of temperature in which the wasps developed. Puparia of the calliphorids Lucilia illustris Meigen, Phormia regina Meigen, and Protophormia terraenovae Robineau‐Desvoidy were also accepted as hosts by the female parasitoids, albeit not equally so, and each yielded large, female‐biased broods. By contrast, pupae of the calliphorid Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) were not well suited to serve as an oviposition site or support the development of N. vitripennis. When successful parasitism did occur on any host species, duration of parasitoid development increased, adult body sizes were truncated, male‐biased sex ratios were produced, and mortality from egg hatch to adult emergence elevated with increasing rearing temperature. Unlike with the four other fly species, C. rufifacies did not yield any adult parasitoids when the rearing temperature was 35 °C. The results argue that developmental data determined for this wasp derived from a single host species is not sufficient for applying to all scenarios in which wasp development is necessary to estimate a postmortem interval or periods of insect activity.     

The genome sequence of the emerging common midwife toad virus identifies an evolutionary intermediate within ranaviruses

Worldwide amphibian population declines have been ascribed to global warming, increasing pollution levels, and other factors directly related to human activities. These factors may additionally be favoring the emergence of novel pathogens. In this report, we have determined the complete genome sequence of the emerging common midwife toad ranavirus (CMTV), which has caused fatal disease in several amphibian species across Europe. Phylogenetic and gene content analyses of the first complete genomic sequence from a ranavirus isolated in Europe show that CMTV is an amphibian-like ranavirus (ALRV). However, the CMTV genome structure is novel and represents an intermediate evolutionary stage between the two previously described ALRV groups. We find that CMTV clusters with several other ranaviruses isolated from different hosts and locations which might also be included in this novel ranavirus group. This work sheds light on the phylogenetic relationships within this complex group of emerging, disease-causing viruses.     

The thermal mismatch hypothesis explains host susceptibility to an emerging infectious disease

Parasites typically have broader thermal limits than hosts, so large performance gaps between pathogens and their cold‐ and warm‐adapted hosts should occur at relatively warm and cold temperatures, respectively. We tested this thermal mismatch hypothesis by quantifying the temperature‐dependent susceptibility of cold‐ and warm‐adapted amphibian species to the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) using laboratory experiments and field prevalence estimates from 15 410 individuals in 598 populations. In both the laboratory and field, we found that the greatest susceptibility of cold‐ and warm‐adapted hosts occurred at relatively warm and cool temperatures, respectively, providing support for the thermal mismatch hypothesis. Our results suggest that as climate change shifts hosts away from their optimal temperatures, the probability of increased host susceptibility to infectious disease might increase, but the effect will depend on the host species and the direction of the climate shift. Our findings help explain the tremendous variation in species responses to Bd across climates and spatial, temporal and species‐level variation in disease outbreaks associated with extreme weather events that are becoming more common with climate change.     

Parasite consumption and host interference can inhibit disease spread in dense populations

Disease dynamics hinge on parasite transmission among hosts. However, canonical models for transmission often fit data poorly, limiting predictive ability. One solution involves building mechanistic yet general links between host behaviour and disease spread. To illustrate, we focus on the exposure component of transmission for hosts that consume their parasites, combining experiments, models and field data. Models of transmission that incorporate parasite consumption and foraging interference among hosts vastly outperformed alternatives when fit to experimental data using a zooplankton host (Daphnia dentifera) that consumes spores of a fungus (Metschnikowia bicuspidata). Once plugged into a fully dynamic model, both mechanisms inhibited epidemics overall. Foraging interference further depressed parasite invasion and prevalence at high host density, creating unimodal (hump‐shaped) relationships between host density and these indices. These novel results qualitatively matched a unimodal density–prevalence relationship in natural epidemics. Ultimately, a mechanistic approach to transmission can reveal new insights into disease outbreaks.     

Caribbean coral diseases: primary transmission or secondary infection?

Over the last 40 years, disease outbreaks have significantly reduced coral populations throughout the Caribbean. Most coral‐disease models assume that coral diseases are contagious and that pathogens are transmitted from infected to susceptible hosts. However, this assumption has not been rigorously tested. We used spatial epidemiology to examine disease clustering, at scales ranging from meters to tens of kilometers, to determine whether three of the most common Caribbean coral diseases, (i) yellow‐band disease, (ii) dark‐spot syndrome, and (iii) white‐plague disease, were spatially clustered. For all three diseases, we found no consistent evidence of disease clustering and, therefore, these diseases did not follow a contagious‐disease model. We suggest that the expression of some coral diseases is instead a two‐step process. First, environmental thresholds are exceeded. Second, these environmental conditions either weaken the corals, which are then more susceptible to infection, or the conditions increase the virulence or abundance of pathogens. Exceeding such environmental thresholds will most likely become increasingly common in rapidly warming oceans, leading to more frequent coral‐disease outbreaks.     

Genotype‐by‐genotype specificity remains robust to average temperature variation in an aphid/endosymbiont/parasitoid system

Genotype‐by‐genotype interactions demonstrate the existence of variation upon which selection acts in host–parasite systems at respective resistance and infection loci. These interactions can potentially be modified by environmental factors, which would entail that different genotypes are selected under different environmental conditions. In the current study, we checked for a G × G × E interaction in the context of average temperature and the genotypes of asexual lines of the endoparasitoid wasp Lysiphlebus fabarum and isolates of Hamiltonella defensa, a protective secondary endosymbiont of the wasp's host, the black bean aphid Aphis fabae. We exposed genetically identical aphids harbouring different isolates of H. defensa to three asexual lines of the parasitoid and measured parasitism success under three different temperatures (15, 22 and 29 °C). Although there was clear evidence for increased susceptibility to parasitoids at the highest average temperature and a strong G × G interaction between the host's symbionts and the parasitoids, no modifying effect of temperature, that is, no significant G × G × E interaction, was detected. This robustness of the observed specificity suggests that the relative fitness of different parasitoid genotypes on hosts protected by particular symbionts remains uncomplicated by spatial or temporal variation in temperature, which should facilitate biological control strategies.     

Predicting the impact of long-term temperature changes on the epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis: a mechanistic model

Background

Many parasites of medical and veterinary importance are transmitted by cold-blooded intermediate hosts or vectors, the abundance of which will vary with ambient temperatures, potentially altering disease prevalence. In particular, if global climate change will increase mean ambient temperature in a region endemic with a human pathogen then it is possible that the incidence of disease will similarly increase. Here we examine this possibility by using a mathematical model to explore the effects of increasing long-term mean ambient temperature on the prevalence and abundance of the parasite Schistosoma mansoni, the causative agent of schistosomiasis in humans.

Principal Findings

The model showed that the impact of temperature on disease prevalence and abundance is not straightforward; the mean infection burden in humans increases up to 30°C, but then crashes at 35°C, primarily due to increased mortalities of the snail intermediate host. In addition, increased temperatures changed the dynamics of disease from stable, endemic infection to unstable, epidemic cycles at 35°C. However, the prevalence of infection was largely unchanged by increasing temperatures. Temperature increases also affected the response of the model to changes in each parameter, indicating certain control strategies may become less effective with local temperature changes. At lower temperatures, the most effective single control strategy is to target the adult parasites through chemotherapy. However, as temperatures increase, targeting the snail intermediate hosts, for example through molluscicide use, becomes more effective.

Conclusions

These results show that S. mansoni will not respond to increased temperatures in a linear fashion, and the optimal control strategy is likely to change as temperatures change. It is only through a mechanistic approach, incorporating the combined effects of temperature on all stages of the life-cycle, that we can begin to predict the consequences of climate change on the incidence and severity of such diseases.     

The ecology and phylogeny of oomycete infections in Asplanchna rotifers

1. Recently, the potential for parasites to influence the ecology and evolution of their zooplankton hosts has been the subject of increasing study. However, most research to date has focussed on Daphnia hosts, and the potential for parasites to influence other zooplankton taxa remains largely unstudied. 2. During routine sampling of zooplankton in a eutrophic lake, we observed that the rotifer Asplanchna girodi was often infected with a parasitic oomycete. Epidemics of this parasite occurred frequently, with three separate events in a single year. Prevalence at peak infection ranged from 29 to 41% and epidemics lasted from 17 to 56 days. Our data indicate that high densities of the host population are required for epidemics to occur. 3. Our morphological and molecular analyses suggest that this parasite is in the genus Pythium. Most Pythium spp. are plant pathogens, but our study supports recent work on Daphnia, suggesting that Pythium spp. are also important parasites of zooplankton. 4. As the parasite in this study was recalcitrant to cultivation, we developed an alternative method to verify its identity. Our approach used quantitative PCR to show that the ribosomal sequences identified increased with increasing density of infected hosts and, thus, were associated with the parasite. This approach should be generally applicable to other plankton parasites that are difficult to cultivate outside their hosts. 5. Infections significantly reduced host fecundity, lifespan and population growth rate. As a result of the virulence of this parasite, it is likely to influence the population ecology and evolution of its Asplanchna host, and may be a useful model system for studies on host–parasite coevolutionary dynamics.     

The temporal structure of the environment may influence range expansions during climate warming

Understanding the processes that influence range expansions during climate warming is paramount for predicting population extirpations and preparing for the arrival of non‐native species. While climate warming occurs over a background of variation due to cyclical processes and irregular events, the temporal structure of the thermal environment is largely ignored when forecasting the dynamics of non‐native species. Ecological theory predicts that high levels of temporal autocorrelation in the environment – relatedness between conditions occurring in close temporal proximity – will favor populations that would otherwise have an average negative growth rate by increasing the duration of favorable environmental periods. Here, we invoke such theory to explain the success of biological invasions and evaluate the hypothesis that sustained periods of high environmental temperature can act synergistically with increases in mean temperature to favor the establishment of non‐native species. We conduct a 60‐day field mesocosm experiment to measure the population dynamics of the non‐native cladoceran zooplankter Daphnia lumholtzi and a native congener Daphnia pulex in ambient temperature environments (control), warmed with recurrent periods of high environmental temperatures (uncorrelated‐warmed), or warmed with sustained periods of high environmental temperatures (autocorrelated‐warmed), such that both warmed treatments exhibited the same mean temperature but exhibited different temporal structures of their thermal environments. Maximum D. lumholtzi densities in the warmed‐autocorrelated treatment were threefold and eightfold higher relative to warmed‐uncorrelated and control treatments, respectively. Yet, D. lumholtzi performed poorly across all experimental treatments relative to D. pulex and were undetectable by the end of the experiment. Using mathematical models, we show that this increase in performance can occur alongside increasing temporal autocorrelation and should occur over a broad range of warming scenarios. These results provide both empirical and theoretical evidence that the temporal structure of the environment can influence the performance of species undergoing range expansions due to climate warming.     

Ecological and evolutionary responses of an arctic plant to variation in microclimate and soil

The arctic and alpine regions are predicted to experience some of the highest rates of climate change, and the arctic vegetation is expected to be especially sensitive to such changes. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary responses of arctic plant species to changes in climate is therefore a key objective. Geothermal areas, where natural temperature gradients occur over small spatial scales, and without many of the confounding environmental factors present in latitudinal and other gradient studies, provide a natural experimental setting in which to examine the response of arctic–alpine plants to increasing temperatures. To test the ecological and evolutionary response of the circumpolar alpine bistort Persicaria vivipara to temperature, we collected plant material and soil from areas with low, intermediate and high soil temperatures and grew them at three different temperatures in a three-factorial growth chamber experiment. At higher experimental soil temperatures, sprouting was earlier and plants had more leaves. Sprouting was earlier in soil originating from intermediate temperature and plants had more leaves when grown in soil originating from low temperatures. We did not find evidence of local adaptation or genetic variation in reaction norms among plants originating from areas with low, intermediate and high soil temperature. Our findings suggest that the alpine bistort has a strong plastic response to warming, but that differences in soil temperature have not resulted in genetic differentiation. The lack of an observed evolutionary response may, for example, be due to the absence of temperature-mediated selection on P. vivipara, the low rate of sexual recombination, or high levels of gene flow balancing differences in selection. When placed within the context of other studies, we conclude that arctic–alpine plant species often show strong plastic responses to spring warming, while evidence of evolutionary responses varies among species.