Eco‐evolutionary context modifies a destructive plant invader's response to climate

Summary Understanding the relationship between climate and fitness will be important when predicting how plant populations respond to climate change. We conducted a replicated common garden experiment (4 sites × 2 yr) with 96 genotypes ( n = 22 492 individuals) of the invasive annual grass Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) to understand how eco‐evolutionary context mediates this important relationship. We grew genotypes in varying soil microclimate conditions by manipulating surface albedo, and at two planting densities. We calculated a ‘climate mismatch’ for each genotype within each microclimate to characterize the role of local adaptation to climate in explaining variation in fitness. Genotype‐by‐environment interactions increased the predictive accuracy of our statistical model of cheatgrass fitness with strong evidence for local adaptation to source climate. Survival responses to soil microclimate were density‐dependent and there was stronger evidence for local adaptation at lower compared with higher planting density. Our model generally predicts increases in fitness with an increase in temperature across source populations. Important eco‐evolutionary context (e.g. genotype‐by‐environment interactions, density dependence) should be considered when predicting plant fitness in an era of rapid environmental change.

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Publication Details

Journal
New Phytologist
Published
2026-06-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71329
Primary Topic
Species Distribution and Climate Change
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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Eco‐evolutionary context modifies a destructive plant invader's response to climate

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New Phytologist
Species Distribution and Climate Change
article

Eco‐evolutionary context modifies a destructive plant invader's response to climate

Megan L. Vahsen, Matthew J. Germino, Lauren M. Porensky, Corinne Schroeder, Ruth A. Hufbauer, Alexandra K. Urza, Diana Gamba, Rebecca A. Hufft, Eugene W. Schupp, Richard Gill, Lysandra A. Pyle, Michael Stemkovski, Toby M. Maxwell, Peter B. Adler, David T. Barnett, Elizabeth A. Leger, Martin C. Holdrege, Owen W. Baughman, Jacqueline P. Ott, Amy J. Symstad, David J. Ensing, Justin J. Van Ee, Jesse R. Lasky, Robert K. Shriver, Seth Romero, Chandra E. Moffat, Dana M. Blumenthal, Mevin B. Hooten, Cynthia S. Brown, Nikki Pirtel
article en

Abstract

Summary Understanding the relationship between climate and fitness will be important when predicting how plant populations respond to climate change. We conducted a replicated common garden experiment (4 sites × 2 yr) with 96 genotypes ( n = 22 492 individuals) of the invasive annual grass Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) to understand how eco‐evolutionary context mediates this important relationship. We grew genotypes in varying soil microclimate conditions by manipulating surface albedo, and at two planting densities. We calculated a ‘climate mismatch’ for each genotype within each microclimate to characterize the role of local adaptation to climate in explaining variation in fitness. Genotype‐by‐environment interactions increased the predictive accuracy of our statistical model of cheatgrass fitness with strong evidence for local adaptation to source climate. Survival responses to soil microclimate were density‐dependent and there was stronger evidence for local adaptation at lower compared with higher planting density. Our model generally predicts increases in fitness with an increase in temperature across source populations. Important eco‐evolutionary context (e.g. genotype‐by‐environment interactions, density dependence) should be considered when predicting plant fitness in an era of rapid environmental change.

New Phytologist
Brigham Young University (US), Utah State University (US), The Nature Conservancy (US), United States Geological Survey (US), Pennsylvania State University (US), Agricultural Research Service (US), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (CA), University of Nevada, Reno (US), University of Georgia (US), University of New Mexico (US), Denver Botanic Gardens (US), National Ecological Observatory Network (US), Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (CA), Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (US), Rocky Mountain Research Station (US), Rocky Mountain Research (United States) (US), The University of Texas at Austin (US), Colorado State University (US)
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Species Distribution and Climate Change
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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