title: Contemporary evolution of plant reproductive strategies under global change is revealed by stored seeds.
abstract: Global change is expected to impose new selection pressures on natural populations. Phenotypic responses, such as earlier phenology in response to climate warming, have been repeatedly observed in the field. The recent pollinator decline is also expected to change selection on reproductive traits in flowering plants. However, it remains unclear whether short-term adaptation of plant reproductive strategies occurs in response to global change. In this study, we report the evolution of some important reproductive traits of the annual self-incompatible weed Centaurea cyanus. In a common garden experiment, we germinated stored seeds, sampled 18 years apart from the same location, in a region where warmer springs and indices of pollinator decline have been reported. Compared to the ancestral population (1992), our results showed that plants of the descendant population (2010) flowered earlier and also produced larger capitula with longer receptivity and a larger floral display. QST -FST comparisons indicated that natural selection has likely contributed to the evolution of some of the traits investigated. Lower FST within temporal samples than among spatial samples further suggests a limited role of gene flow from neighbouring populations. We therefore propose that trait shifts could partly be due to adaptation to global change.
authors: CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, EPHE, Montpellier Cedex 05, France; Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier - (UMR 5554 CNRS), Université de Montpellier II, Montpellier Cedex 05, France.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Thomann
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Imbert
authors: R C
authors: RC
authors: Engstrand
authors: P-O
authors: PO
authors: Cheptou
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D005075:Biological Evolution; D031179:Centaurea / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D057231:Climate Change; D035264:Flowers / Q000502:physiology*; D005602:France; D051456:Gene Flow; D040961:Genetic Drift; D018525:Germination; D054817:Pollination; D012639:Seeds / Q000502:physiology*; D012641:Selection, Genetic
keywords: adaptation; climate change; mating system; phenology; pollinator decline; resurrection study