Data from: Shifts and disruptions in resource-use trait syndromes during the evolution of herbaceous crops

Trait-based ecology predicts that evolution in high-resource agricultural
environments should select for suites of traits that enable fast resource
acquisition and rapid canopy closure. However, crop breeding targets
specific agronomic attributes rather than broad trait syndromes. Breeding
for specific traits, together with evolution in high-resource
environments, might lead to reduced phenotypic integration, according to
predictions from the ecological literature. We provide the first
comprehensive test of these hypotheses, based on a trait-screening
programme of 30 herbaceous crops and their wild progenitors. During crop
evolution plants became larger, which enabled them to compete more
effectively for light, but they had poorly integrated phenotypes. In a
subset of six herbaceous crop species investigated in greater depth,
competitiveness for light increased during early plant domestication,
whereas diminished phenotypic integration occurred later during crop
improvement. Mass-specific leaf and root traits relevant to resource-use
strategies (e.g. specific leaf area or tissue density of fine roots)
changed during crop evolution, but in diverse and contrasting directions
and magnitudes, depending on the crop species. Reductions in phenotypic
integration and overinvestment in traits involved in competition for light
may affect the chances of upgrading modern herbaceous crops to face
current climatic and food security challenges.