Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
A pan-European citizen science study shows population size, climate and land use are related to biased morph ratios in the heterostylous plant Primula veris
Show others and affiliations
Number of Authors: 412025 (English)In: Journal of Ecology, ISSN 0022-0477, E-ISSN 1365-2745Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

The distylous plant Primula veris has long served as a model species for studying heterostyly, that is the occurrence of multiple floral morphs within a population to ensure outcrossing. Habitat loss, reduced plant population sizes, and climate change have raised concerns about the impact of these factors on morph ratios and the related consequences on fitness of heterostylous species. We studied the deviation of floral morphs of P. veris from isoplethy (i.e. equal frequency) in response to plant population size, landscape context and climatic factors, based on a pan-European citizen science campaign involving observations from 28 countries. In addition, we examined the relative frequency of morphs to determine whether landscape and climatic factors disrupt morph frequencies or whether a specific morph has an advantage over the other. Theory predicts equal frequencies of short-styled S-morphs and long-styled L-morphs in populations at equilibrium. However, data from >3000 populations showed a substantial morph deviation from isoplethy and a significant excess of S-morphs (9% higher compared to L-morphs). Deviation of morph frequency from equilibrium was substantially stronger in smaller populations and was not affected by morph identity. Higher summer precipitation and land use intensity were associated with an increased prevalence of S-morphs. Five populations containing individuals exhibiting short homostyle phenotypes (with the style and anthers in low positions) were found. Genotyping of the individuals at CYP734A50 gene of the S locus, which determines the length of the style and the position of anthers of P. veris, revealed no mutations in this region. Our results based on an unprecedented geographic sampling suggest that changes in land use and climate may be responsible for non-equilibrium morph frequencies. This large-scale citizen science initiative sets foundations for future studies to clarify whether the unexpected excess of S-morphs is due to partial intra-morph compatibility, disruption of heterostyly or survival advantage of S-morphs. Synthesis. Human-induced environmental change may affect biodiversity indirectly through altering reproductive traits, which can also lead to reduced fitness and genetic diversity. Further research should consider the possible role of pollinators in mediating the ecological and evolutionary consequences of recent landscape and climatic shifts on plant reproductive traits.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025.
Keywords [en]
citizen science, climate change, habitat loss, heterostyly, homostyly, pollination, population size, Primula veris
National Category
Climate Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-240221DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.14477ISI: 001403944700001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85215791789OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-240221DiVA, id: diva2:1942744
Available from: 2025-03-06 Created: 2025-03-06 Last updated: 2025-03-06

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Cousins, Sara

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Cousins, Sara
By organisation
Department of Physical GeographyThe Bolin Centre for Climate Research (together with KTH & SMHI)
In the same journal
Journal of Ecology
Climate Science

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 118 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf