Climate-driven in-situ trait variation in an annual ruderal grass across Europe

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Plant functional traits link environmental conditions to plant performance and adaptation. Growing evidence suggests that intraspecific trait variation can be as important as differences between species, yet large intraspecific studies of in-situ variation remain rare. While most studies have focused on plant morphological traits, the concentrations of elemental nutrients in seeds have received much less attention so far. METHODS: We conducted a large-scale in-situ study of the widespread annual ruderal grass Hordeum murinum. We sampled 2070 individuals from 207 populations across a large part of its native range in Europe and North Africa. We measured seed ripening phenology and growth-related traits in-situ and analyzed concentrations of elemental nutrients in the seeds. KEY RESULTS: We found that Hordeum murinum grew larger, produced seeds later, and had heavier seeds in colder and wetter regions. Plants growing in denser vegetation were taller and produced heavier seeds but formed fewer spikes. Concentrations of elemental nutrients in the seed generally declined with seed weight and were primarily driven by climatic variables, whereas soil conditions had only minor effects on plant traits and seed nutrients. Population identity explained a substantial proportion of trait variation, indicating a possible genetic component. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide a comprehensive view of how Hordeum murinum responds to environmental gradients across its European distribution. Climatic variables, particularly temperature, are key drivers of reproductive timing and concentrations of elemental nutrients in the seed, whereas local environmental conditions, such as biotic pressures, are more critical for growth-related traits. Together, these patterns indicate that Hordeum murinum modulates its growth and reproductive investment along environmental gradients, balancing phenology, stress tolerance, and limited competitive capacity.

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Publication Details

Journal
Annals of Botany
Published
2026-06-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag164
Primary Topic
Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
Type
article
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article

Climate-driven in-situ trait variation in an annual ruderal grass across Europe

Francesco Santi, Jannis Straube, Arndt Hampe, Katalin Szitár et al.
Annals of Botany
Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
article

Climate-driven in-situ trait variation in an annual ruderal grass across Europe

Francesco Santi, Jannis Straube, Arndt Hampe, Katalin Szitár, Agnieszka Nobis, Severin Einspanier, Timo Hellwig, Sławomir Nowak, Arne Saatkamp, Carmen Romeralo, Anna Bomanowska, Artur Nosalewicz, Kamil Konowalik, Marta Kolanowska, Izabela Krzemińska, Ondřej Mudrák, Andreas D. Drouzas, Monika Myśliwy, Nadine Mitschunas, Anna E. Backhaus, Abdenour Kheloufi, Stanislav Kopřiva, Henryk Straube, Konrad Kaczmarek, Milan Brankov, Walter Durka, Przemysław Baranow, Jonathan D. Moore, Lahouaria Mounia Mansouri, Sylvain Pincebourde, Joel Torra, José Manuel Blanco Moreno, Nebojša Nikolić, Matej Lexa, Agnieszka Rewicz, Adrian Wysocki, Sabine Metzger, Helene Villhauer, Aritz Royo-Esnal, Boris Radak, Mathieu Leclerc, Anna Bucharova, Maria von Korff, Anis Edena Zarantonello, Sandy Jan Labarosa, Albane Bignon, Víctor Manzanares-Vázquez, Pablo Neira, Ali Sahri, Luís P da Silva, Encarna Rodríguez-García, Denise V M Blume, Marcin Nobis, Markus Wagner, Miloš Ilić
article en

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Plant functional traits link environmental conditions to plant performance and adaptation. Growing evidence suggests that intraspecific trait variation can be as important as differences between species, yet large intraspecific studies of in-situ variation remain rare. While most studies have focused on plant morphological traits, the concentrations of elemental nutrients in seeds have received much less attention so far. METHODS: We conducted a large-scale in-situ study of the widespread annual ruderal grass Hordeum murinum. We sampled 2070 individuals from 207 populations across a large part of its native range in Europe and North Africa. We measured seed ripening phenology and growth-related traits in-situ and analyzed concentrations of elemental nutrients in the seeds. KEY RESULTS: We found that Hordeum murinum grew larger, produced seeds later, and had heavier seeds in colder and wetter regions. Plants growing in denser vegetation were taller and produced heavier seeds but formed fewer spikes. Concentrations of elemental nutrients in the seed generally declined with seed weight and were primarily driven by climatic variables, whereas soil conditions had only minor effects on plant traits and seed nutrients. Population identity explained a substantial proportion of trait variation, indicating a possible genetic component. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide a comprehensive view of how Hordeum murinum responds to environmental gradients across its European distribution. Climatic variables, particularly temperature, are key drivers of reproductive timing and concentrations of elemental nutrients in the seed, whereas local environmental conditions, such as biotic pressures, are more critical for growth-related traits. Together, these patterns indicate that Hordeum murinum modulates its growth and reproductive investment along environmental gradients, balancing phenology, stress tolerance, and limited competitive capacity.

Annals of Botany
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), University of Szczecin (PL), Université de Tours (FR), University of Copenhagen (DK), Jagiellonian University (PL), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE), University of Padua (IT), Université de Bordeaux (FR), Universitat de Lleida (ES), Philipps University of Marburg (DE), University of Batna 1 (DZ), University of Novi Sad (RS), Universidade do Porto (PT), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (LB), National Agricultural Research Institute (PG), Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse (FR), Charles University (CZ), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR), Masaryk University (CZ), Aix-Marseille Université (FR), Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences (PL), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE), Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Kiel (DE), University of Łódź (PL), University of Gdańsk (PL), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (GB), Institute of Ecology and Botany (HU), Carnegie Department of Plant Biology (US), Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL), Institut thématique Génétique, génomique et bioinformatique (FR), Institute of Soil Biology (CZ), Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (DE), Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK) (DE), HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (HU), Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive (FR), UMR BIOdiversity, GEnes & Communities (FR), Maize Research Institute Zemun Polje (RS), Ionosphere Institute (KZ), Three Rivers Community College (US), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE), Universitat de Barcelona (ES), University of Bologna (IT)
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Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
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