Previous exposure mediates the response of eelgrass to future warming via clonal transgenerational plasticity
Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
Fersiynau electronig
Dangosydd eitem ddigidol (DOI)
Mortality and shifts in species distributions are among the most obvious consequences of extreme climatic events. However, the sublethal effects of an extreme event can have persistent impacts throughout an individual’s lifetime and into future generations via within-generation and transgenerational phenotypic plasticity. These changes can either confer resilience or increase susceptibility to subsequent stressful events, with impacts on population, community, and potentially ecosystem processes. Here, we show how a simulated extreme warming event causes persistent changes in the morphology and growth of a foundation species (eelgrass, Zostera marina) across multiple clonal generations and multiple years. The effect of previous parental exposure to warming increased aboveground biomass, shoot length, and aboveground–belowground biomass ratios while also greatly decreasing leaf growth rates. Long-term increases in aboveground–belowground biomass ratios could indicate an adaptive clonal transgenerational response to warmer climates that reduces the burden of increased respiration in belowground biomass. These transgenerational responses were likely decoupled from clonal parent provisioning as rhizome size of clonal offspring was standardized at planting and rhizome starch reserves were not impacted by warming treatments. Future investigations into potential epigenetic mechanisms underpinning such clonal transgenerational plasticity will be necessary to understand the resilience of asexual foundation species to repeated extreme climatic events.
Iaith wreiddiol | Saesneg |
---|---|
Rhif yr erthygl | e03169 |
Cyfnodolyn | Ecology |
Cyfrol | 101 |
Rhif y cyfnodolyn | 12 |
Dyddiad ar-lein cynnar | 26 Awst 2020 |
Dynodwyr Gwrthrych Digidol (DOIs) | |
Statws | Cyhoeddwyd - 1 Rhag 2020 |
Cyhoeddwyd yn allanol | Ie |