Gene Flow and Local Adaptation in Trees
Top Cited Papers
- 1 December 2007
- journal article
- Published by Annual Reviews in Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics
- Vol. 38 (1), 595-619
- https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.38.091206.095646
Abstract
Populations are locally adapted when populations have the highest relative fitness at their home sites, and lower fitness in other parts of the range. Results from the extensive experimental plantations of populations of forest trees from different parts of the range show that populations can survive and grow in broad areas outside the home site. However, intra- and interspecific competition limit the distribution of genotypes. For populations from large parts of the range, relative fitness, compared with the local population, is often highest at the home site. At the edges of the range, this local adaptation may break down. The extent of local adaptation is determined by the balance between gene flow and selection. Genetic differentiation and strong natural selection occur over a range of tens or hundreds of kilometers, but reliable measurements of gene flow are available only for much shorter distances. Current models of spatially varying selection could be made more realistic by the incorporation of strong selection and isolation-by-distance characteristic of tree populations. Many studies suggest that most variation in adaptive traits is based on loci with small effects. Association genetics methods and improved genomic resources are useful for the identification of the loci responsible for this variation. The potential for adaptation to current climate change depends on genetic variation and dispersal and establishment rates.Keywords
This publication has 92 references indexed in Scilit:
- Association Genetics in Pinus taeda L. I. Wood Property TraitsGenetics, 2007
- Multilocus Patterns of Nucleotide Diversity, Linkage Disequilibrium and Demographic History of Norway Spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst]Genetics, 2006
- Ecological and Evolutionary Responses to Recent Climate ChangeAnnual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 2006
- Genetic variation in cessation of growth and frost hardiness and consequences for adaptation of Pinus sylvestris to climatic changesForest Ecology and Management, 2004
- Geographic pattern of local optimality in natural populations of lodgepole pineForest Ecology and Management, 2004
- Adaptive population divergence: markers, QTL and traitsTrends in Ecology & Evolution, 2002
- Is there a correlation between chloroplastic and nuclear divergence, or what are the roles of history and selection on genetic diversity in European oaks?Forest Ecology and Management, 2002
- Genetic Responses to Climate in Pinus contorta: Niche Breadth, Climate Change, and ReforestationEcological Monographs, 1999
- Factors influencing levels of genetic diversity in woody plant speciesNew Forests, 1992
- Spatial patterns in the distributions of polygenic charactersJournal of Theoretical Biology, 1978