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Dryad

Data from: Natural selection drives leaf divergence in experimental populations of Senecio lautus under natural conditions

Cite this dataset

Richards, Thomas J.; Ortiz-Barrientos, Daniel; McGuigan, Katrina (2019). Data from: Natural selection drives leaf divergence in experimental populations of Senecio lautus under natural conditions [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.88j4772

Abstract

• Leaf morphology is highly variable both within and between plant species. This study employs a combination of common garden and reciprocal transplant experiments to determine whether leaf shape in Senecio lautus has evolved as an adaptive response to divergent natural selection. • We created a synthetic population of hybrid genotypes to segregate morphological variation between three ecotypes, and performed reciprocal transplants where this hybrid population was transplanted into the three adjacent native environments. We measured 9 leaf morphology traits across the experimental an natural populations at these sites . • We found significant divergence in multivariate leaf morphology toward the native character in each environment, suggesting environmental conditions at each site exert selective pressure that results in a phenotypic shift towards the local phenotype of the wild populations.• These associations suggest that differences in leaf morphology between S. lautus ecotypes has arisen as a result of divergent selection on leaf shape or associated traits that confer an adaptive advantage in each environment, which has led to the formation of morphologically distinct ecotypes.

Usage notes

Location

new south wales
Australia