RAD-seq of Davidia involucrata (PRJCA032460)

As global climate change accelerates, plants that fail to track their ecological niches through range shifts must rely on genetic variation to adapt and survive. Recently, genomic vulnerability predictions have been increasingly used to identify populations with limited adaptive potential and to pinpoint genes associated with climate changes. However, hybridization, a critical evolutionary force, is often overlooked in such analyses. Here, we investigated the relict plant species Davidia involucrata by sampling 196 individuals from 16 populations, covering all genetic lineages and two admixed groups. By integrating population genomics with environmental data, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of the dove tree and identified 139 strictly climate-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Based on these SNPs, our analysis revealed that long-term isolation and adaptation of precipitation-related variables jointly accelerated the divergence and admixture within D. involucrata populations. Notably, we determined that some of the introgressed populations displayed the highest genomic vulnerability to projected climate changes, suggesting that hybridization between deeply divergent lineages may aggravate maladaptation under future climatic conditions. Conservation strategies such as assisted migration are recommended to address the limited dispersal capacity of vulnerable D. involucrata populations. This study highlights the maladaptive risk of intraspecific hybridization in response to climate change and emphasize the importance of informed conservation practices for relict species.