A field experiment demonstrating plant life-history evolution and its eco-evolutionary feedback to seed predator populations

The extent to which evolutionary change occurs in a predictable manner under field conditions and how evolutionary changes feed back to influence ecological dynamics are fundamental, yet unresolved, questions. To address these issues, we established eight replicate populations of native common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis). Each population was planted with 18 genotypes in identical frequency. By tracking genotype frequencies with microsatellite DNA markers over the subsequent three years (up to three generations, ≈5,000 genotyped plants), we show rapid and consistent evolution of two heritable plant life-history traits (shorter life span and later flowering time). This rapid evolution was only partially the result of differential seed production; genotypic variation in seed germination also contributed to the observed evolutionary response. Since evening primrose genotypes exhibited heritable variation for resistance to insect herbivores, which was related to flowering time, we p...

在野外条件下，演化变化能否以可预测的方式发生，以及演化变化如何反馈调控生态动态，均为尚未解决的核心科学议题。为解答上述问题，我们构建了8个本地普通月见草（Oenothera biennis）的重复种群。每个种群均以相同频率种植18个基因型的植株。通过后续三年（最长可达三代，共对约5000株植株进行基因分型）利用微卫星DNA标记（microsatellite DNA markers）追踪基因型频率，我们证实了两种可遗传的植物生活史性状发生了快速且一致的演化：寿命缩短与开花时间延后。这种快速演化仅部分源于种子产量的差异；种子萌发过程中的基因型变异同样对观测到的演化响应起到了推动作用。由于月见草的不同基因型对昆虫食草动物的抗性存在可遗传变异，且该抗性与开花时间相关，我们...