Landscape Genomics and a Common Garden Trial Reveal Adaptive Differentiation to Temperature across Europe in the Tree Species Alnus Glutinosa. De Kort, H., Vandepitte, K., Bruun, H. H., Closset-Kopp, D., Honnay, O., & Mergeay, J. Molecular Ecology, 23(19):4709–4721, October, 2014.
doi  abstract   bibtex   
The adaptive potential of tree species to cope with climate change has important ecological and economic implications. Many temperate tree species experience a wide range of environmental conditions, suggesting high adaptability to new environmental conditions. We investigated adaptation to regional climate in the drought-sensitive tree species Alnus glutinosa (Black alder), using a complementary approach that integrates genomic, phenotypic and landscape data. A total of 24 European populations were studied in a common garden and through landscape genomic approaches. Genotyping-by-sequencing was used to identify SNPs across the genome, resulting in 1990 SNPs. Although a relatively low percentage of putative adaptive SNPs was detected (2.86\,% outlier SNPs), we observed clear associations among outlier allele frequencies, temperature and plant traits. In line with the typical drought avoiding nature of A.~glutinosa, leaf size varied according to a temperature gradient and significant associations with multiple outlier loci were observed, corroborating the ecological relevance of the observed outlier SNPs. Moreover, the lack of isolation by distance, the very low genetic differentiation among populations and the high intrapopulation genetic variation all support the notion that high gene exchange combined with strong environmental selection promotes adaptation to environmental cues. [Excerpt] [...] In conclusion, associations between climatic, phenotypic and genomic data, using a common garden trial and landscape genomic approaches, strongly suggest adaptation of A. glutinosa to temperature. In line with the typical water-demanding nature of the species, leaf size varied according to a temperature gradient, and significant associations with multiple outlier loci were observed. Variation in outlier SNPs rather than neutral SNPs was associated with temperature and phenotypic trait variation, suggesting that these SNPs are linked to genes that are involved in the adaptability of Alnus glutinosa to temperature. However, migration towards higher latitudes and altitudes to track temperature changes may be limited by mainly unidirectional downhill seed dispersal by water. Nevertheless, among-population gene flow will most likely facilitate the exchange of adaptive alleles among extant and newly established populations and may so promote rapid adaptation in response to ongoing climate change, unless populations become too scattered due to habitat loss.
@article{dekortLandscapeGenomicsCommon2014,
  title = {Landscape Genomics and a Common Garden Trial Reveal Adaptive Differentiation to Temperature across {{Europe}} in the Tree Species {{Alnus}} Glutinosa},
  author = {De Kort, Hanne and Vandepitte, Katrien and Bruun, Hans H. and {Closset-Kopp}, D{\'e}borah and Honnay, Olivier and Mergeay, Joachim},
  year = {2014},
  month = oct,
  volume = {23},
  pages = {4709--4721},
  issn = {0962-1083},
  doi = {10.1111/mec.12813},
  abstract = {The adaptive potential of tree species to cope with climate change has important ecological and economic implications. Many temperate tree species experience a wide range of environmental conditions, suggesting high adaptability to new environmental conditions. We investigated adaptation to regional climate in the drought-sensitive tree species Alnus glutinosa (Black alder), using a complementary approach that integrates genomic, phenotypic and landscape data. A total of 24 European populations were studied in a common garden and through landscape genomic approaches. Genotyping-by-sequencing was used to identify SNPs across the genome, resulting in 1990 SNPs. Although a relatively low percentage of putative adaptive SNPs was detected (2.86\,\% outlier SNPs), we observed clear associations among outlier allele frequencies, temperature and plant traits. In line with the typical drought avoiding nature of A.~glutinosa, leaf size varied according to a temperature gradient and significant associations with multiple outlier loci were observed, corroborating the ecological relevance of the observed outlier SNPs. Moreover, the lack of isolation by distance, the very low genetic differentiation among populations and the high intrapopulation genetic variation all support the notion that high gene exchange combined with strong environmental selection promotes adaptation to environmental cues.

[Excerpt] [...] In conclusion, associations between climatic, phenotypic and genomic data, using a common garden trial and landscape genomic approaches, strongly suggest adaptation of A. glutinosa to temperature. In line with the typical water-demanding nature of the species, leaf size varied according to a temperature gradient, and significant associations with multiple outlier loci were observed. Variation in outlier SNPs rather than neutral SNPs was associated with temperature and phenotypic trait variation, suggesting that these SNPs are linked to genes that are involved in the adaptability of Alnus glutinosa to temperature. However, migration towards higher latitudes and altitudes to track temperature changes may be limited by mainly unidirectional downhill seed dispersal by water. Nevertheless, among-population gene flow will most likely facilitate the exchange of adaptive alleles among extant and newly established populations and may so promote rapid adaptation in response to ongoing climate change, unless populations become too scattered due to habitat loss.},
  journal = {Molecular Ecology},
  keywords = {*imported-from-citeulike-INRMM,~INRMM-MiD:c-13293201,adaptation,alnus-glutinosa,climate-change,climatic-niche-shift,drought-tolerance,droughts,europe,flooding-tolerance,forest-resources,genetic-variability,habitat-conservation,phenotypes-vs-genotypes,potential-habitat,realised-vs-potential-range,temperature,water-resources},
  lccn = {INRMM-MiD:c-13293201},
  number = {19}
}

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