Data for: Local adaptation of switchgrass drives trait relations to yield and differential responses to climate and soil environments

Switchgrass, a potential biofuel crop, is a genetically diverse species with phenotypic plasticity enabling it to grow in a range of environments. Two primary divergent ecotypes, uplands and lowlands, exhibit trait combinations representative of acquisitive and conservative growth allocation strategies, respectively. Whether these ecotypes respond differently to various types of environmental drivers remains unclear but is crucial to understanding how switchgrass varieties will respond to climate change. We grew two upland, two lowland, and two intermediate/hybrid cultivars of switchgrass at three sites along a latitudinal gradient in the central United States. Over a 4-year period, we measured plant functional traits and biomass yields and evaluated genotype-by-environment (G´E) interaction effects by analyzing switchgrass responses to soil and climate variables. We found substantial evidence of G´E interactions on biomass yield, primarily due to deviations in the response of the south..., Site descriptions
In 2016, switchgrass field sites were established in three locations; Temple, Texas (TX) at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Grassland, Water and Soil Research Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA; 31.045109°, -97.348135°); Columbia, Missouri (MO) at the Bradford Research Center, University of Missouri (38.899708°, -92.213984°); and Batavia, Illinois (IL) at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) National Environment Research Park (41.836701°, -88.239708°). Before establishment, each site had varying long-term, land-use histories, including periods of cultivation, fallow, or pasture. The soil types and characteristics differ substantially among sites (Figure S1 and Table S1). Briefly, the Houston Black clay at the TX site is a moderately well-drained, very slowly permeable vertisol that was formed in clayey residuum weathered from calcareous mudstone of Upper Cretaceous age and exhibits notable cracking during dry periods; the ..., R 4.1.0+ (open source)
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