Experimental ecology of Dryas octopetala ecotypes

Summary Growth, survival and reproduction of adult plants from three reciprocally-transplanted populations of Dryas octopetala were followed over a seven year period, from 1979 to 1986. The two most different ecotypes, from snowbed and fellfield environments, were strongly selected against in extreme foreign environments via differential growth, survival, and reproduction. The more phenotypically-plastic ecotype from the snowbed experienced rapid, early mortality on the fellfield, prior to morphological adjustment, but no mortality in the last five years of the experiment. The less plastic fellfield ecotype showed no mortality for the first three years followed by a steady decline in numbers for the next four years. The ecotypic difference in plasticity may account for the contrasting mortality patterns. A population of plants with intermediate morphology was intermediate in fitness in extreme environments, but showed no superiority in its home site, suggesting that it is not a locally-adapted population. Natural selection maintains genetic differences between snowbed and fellfield populations in the face of gene flow. However, based on the response of intermediates, there appear to be limits to the degree to which selection can fine-tune adaptation along environmental gradients.