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Local adaptation may facilitate range expansion during invasions, but the mechanisms promoting destructive invasions remain unclear. Cheatgrass ( Bromus tectorum ), native to Eurasia and Africa, has invaded globally, with particularly severe impacts in western North America. We sequenced 307 genotypes and conducted controlled experiments. We found that diverse lineages invaded North America, where long-distance gene flow is common. Ancestry and phenotypic clines in the native range predicted those in the invaded range, indicating pre-adapted genotypes colonized different regions. Common gardens showed directional selection on flowering time that reversed between warm and cold sites, potentially maintaining clines. In the Great Basin, genomic predictions of strong local adaptation identified sites where cheatgrass is most dominant. Preventing new introductions that may fuel adaptation is critical for managing ongoing invasions., Competing Interests: Competing interests: Authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Widely distributed plants of western North America experience divergent selection across environmental gradients, have complex histories shaped by biogeographic barriers and distributional shifts and often illustrate continuums of reproductive isolation. Rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) is a foundational shrub species that occurs across diverse environments of western North America. Its remarkable phenotypic diversity is currently ascribed to two subspecies-Ericameria nauseosa nauseosa and Ericameria nauseosa consimilis-and 22 named varieties. To understand how genetic variation is partitioned across subspecies, varieties, and environments, we used high throughput sequencing of reduced representation libraries. We found clear evidence for divergence between the two subspecies, despite largely sympatric distributions. Numerous locations exhibiting admixed ancestry were not geographically localized but were widely distributed across a mosaic hybrid zone. The occurrence of hybrid and subspecific ancestries was strongly predicted by environmental variables as well as the proximity to major ecotones between ecoregions. Although this repeatability illustrates the importance of environmental factors in shaping reproductive isolation, variability in the prevalence of hybridization also indicates these factors likely differ across ecological contexts. There was mixed evidence for the evolutionary cohesiveness of varieties, but several genetically distinct and narrow endemic varieties exhibited admixed subspecific ancestries, hinting at the possibility for transgressive hybridization to contribute to phenotypic novelty and the colonization of new environments in E. nauseosa., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE). All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Forest persistence in regions impacted by increasing water and temperature stress will depend upon species' ability to either rapidly adjust to novel conditions or migrate to track ecological niches. Predicted, rapid climate change is likely to outpace the adaptive and migratory capacity of long-lived isolated tree species, and reforestation may be critical to species' persistence. Facilitating persistence both within and beyond a species' range requires identification of seed lots best adapted to the current and future conditions predicted with rapid climate change. We evaluate variation in emergent seedling performance that leads to differential survival among species and populations for three high elevation five-needle pines. We paired a fully reciprocal field common garden experiment with a greenhouse common garden study to (1) quantify variation in seedling emergence and functional traits, (2) ask how functional traits affect performance under different establishment conditions, and (3) evaluate whether trait and performance variation demonstrates local adaptation and plasticity. Among study species-limber, Great Basin bristlecone, and whitebark pines-we found divergence in emergence and functional traits, though soil moisture was the strongest driver of seedling emergence and abundance across all species. Generalist limber pine had a clear emergence advantage as well as traits associated with drought adaptation, while edaphic specialist bristlecone pine was characterized by low emergence yet high early survival once established. Despite evidence for edaphic specialization, soil characteristics alone did not explain bristlecone success. Across species, trait-environment relationships provided some evidence for local adaptation in drought-adapted traits, but we found no evidence of local adaptation in emergence or survival at this early life stage. For managers looking to promote persistence, sourcing seed from drier environments is likely to impart greater drought resistance into reforestation efforts through strategies such as greater root investment, increasing the probability of early seedling survival. This research demonstrates, through a rigorous reciprocal transplant experimental design, that it may be possible to select climate- and soil-appropriate seed sources for reforestation. However, planting success will ultimately rely on a suitable establishment environment, requiring careful consideration of interannual climate variability for management interventions in these climate and disturbance-impacted tree species., (© 2023 The Ecological Society of America.)

A history of species co-occurrence in plant communities is hypothesized to lead to greater niche differentiation, more efficient resource partitioning, and more productive, resistant communities as a result of evolution in response to biotic interactions. A similar question can be asked of co-occurring populations: do individual species or community responses differ when communities are founded with plants sharing a history of population co-occurrence (sympatric) or originating from different locations (allopatric)? Using shrub, grass, and forb species from six locations in the western Great Basin, North America, we compared establishment, productivity, reproduction, phenology, and resistance to invaders for experimental communities with either sympatric or allopatric population associations. Each community type was planted with six taxa in outdoor mesocosms, measured over three growing seasons, and invaded with the annual grass Bromus tectorum in the final season. For most populations, the allopatric or sympatric status of neighbors was not important. However, in some cases, it was beneficial for some species from some locations to be planted with allopatric neighbors, while others benefited from sympatric neighbors, and some of these responses had large effects. For instance, the Elymus population that benefited the most from allopatry grew 50% larger with allopatric neighbors than in single origin mesocosms. This response affected invasion resistance, as B. tectorum biomass was strongly affected by productivity and phenology of Elymus spp., as well as Poa secunda. Our results demonstrate that, while community composition can affect plant performance in semi-arid plant communities, assembling communities from sympatric populations is not sufficient to ensure high productivity and invasion resistance. Instead, we observed an idiosyncratic interaction between sampling effects and evolutionary history, with the potential for seed source of individual populations to have community-level effects., (© 2023 The Authors. Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.)

Trait-environment correlations can arise from local adaptation and can identify genetically and environmentally appropriate seeds for restoration projects. However, anthropogenic changes can disrupt the relationships between traits and fitness. Finding the best seed sources for restoration may rely on describing plant traits adaptive in disturbed and invaded environments, recognizing that while traits may differ among species and functional groups, there may be similarities in the strategies that increase seedling establishment. Focusing on three grass genera, two shrub species, and two forb genera, we collected seeds of all taxa from 16 common sites in the sagebrush steppe of the western United States. We measured seed and seedling characteristics, including seed size, emergence timing, and root and shoot traits, and compiled a suite of environmental variables for each collection site. We described trait-environment associations and asked how traits or environment of origin were associated with seedling survival in invaded gardens. Sampling seven taxa from the same sites allowed us to ask how trait-environment-performance associations differ among taxa and whether natural selection favors similar traits across multiple taxa and functional groups. All taxa showed trait-environment associations consistent with local adaptation, and both environment of origin and phenotypes predicted survival in competitive restoration settings, with some commonalities among taxa. Notably, rapid emergence and larger seeds increased survival for multiple taxa. Environmental factors at collection sites, including lower slopes (especially for grasses), greater mean annual temperatures (especially for shrubs and forbs), and greater precipitation seasonality were frequently associated with increased survival. We noted one collection site with high seedling survival across all seven taxa, suggesting that conditions within some sites may result in selection for traits that increase establishment for multiple species. Thus, choosing native plant sources with the most adaptive traits, along with matching climates, will likely improve the restoration of invaded communities., Competing Interests: None declared., (© 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The spatial structure of genomic and phenotypic variation across populations reflects historical and demographic processes as well as evolution via natural selection. Characterizing such variation can provide an important perspective for understanding the evolutionary consequences of changing climate and for guiding ecological restoration. While evidence for local adaptation has been traditionally evaluated using phenotypic data, modern methods for generating and analyzing landscape genomic data can directly quantify local adaptation by associating allelic variation with environmental variation. Here, we analyze both genomic and phenotypic variation of rubber rabbitbrush ( Ericameria nauseosa ), a foundational shrub species of western North America. To quantify landscape genomic structure and provide perspective on patterns of local adaptation, we generated reduced representation sequencing data for 17 wild populations (222 individuals; 38,615 loci) spanning a range of environmental conditions. Population genetic analyses illustrated pronounced landscape genomic structure jointly shaped by geography and environment. Genetic-environment association (GEA) analyses using both redundancy analysis (RDA) and a machine-learning approach (Gradient Forest) indicated environmental variables (precipitation seasonality, slope, aspect, elevation, and annual precipitation) influenced spatial genomic structure and were correlated with allele frequency shifts indicative of local adaptation at a consistent set of genomic regions. We compared our GEA-based inference of local adaptation with phenotypic data collected by growing seeds from each population in a greenhouse common garden. Population differentiation in seed weight, emergence, and seedling traits was associated with environmental variables (e.g., precipitation seasonality) that were also implicated in GEA analyses, suggesting complementary conclusions about the drivers of local adaptation across different methods and data sources. Our results provide a baseline understanding of spatial genomic structure for E. nauseosa across the western Great Basin and illustrate the utility of GEA analyses for detecting the environmental causes and genetic signatures of local adaptation in a widely distributed plant species of restoration significance., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Evolutionary Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Restoration of degraded drylands is urgently needed to mitigate climate change, reverse desertification and secure livelihoods for the two billion people who live in these areas. Bold global targets have been set for dryland restoration to restore millions of hectares of degraded land. These targets have been questioned as overly ambitious, but without a global evaluation of successes and failures it is impossible to gauge feasibility. Here we examine restoration seeding outcomes across 174 sites on six continents, encompassing 594,065 observations of 671 plant species. Our findings suggest reasons for optimism. Seeding had a positive impact on species presence: in almost a third of all treatments, 100% of species seeded were growing at first monitoring. However, dryland restoration is risky: 17% of projects failed, with no establishment of any seeded species, and consistent declines were found in seeded species as projects matured. Across projects, higher seeding rates and larger seed sizes resulted in a greater probability of recruitment, with further influences on species success including site aridity, taxonomic identity and species life form. Our findings suggest that investigations examining these predictive factors will yield more effective and informed restoration decision-making., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Exotic annual grasses dominate millions of hectares and increase fire frequency in the sagebrush ecosystem of North America. This devastating invasion is so costly and challenging to revegetate with perennial vegetation that restoration efforts need to be prioritized and strategically implemented. Management needs to break the annual grass-fire cycle and prevent invasion of new areas, while research is needed to improve restoration success. Under current land management and climate regimes, extensive areas will remain annual grasslands, because of their expansiveness and the low probability of transition to perennial dominance. We propose referring to these communities as Intermountain West Annual Grasslands, recognizing that they are a stable state and require different management goals and objectives than perennial-dominated systems. We need to learn to live with annual grasslands, reducing their costs and increasing benefits derived from them, at the same time maintaining landscape-level plant diversity that could allow transition to perennial dominance under future scenarios. To accomplish this task, we propose a framework and research to improve our ability to live with exotic annual grasses in the sagebrush biome., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Premise: Understanding edaphic specialization is crucial for conserving rare plants that may need relocation due to habitat loss. Focusing on Eriogonum crosbyae, a rare soil specialist in the Great Basin of the United States, we asked how site-level variation among volcanic soil outcrops affected plant growth and population distribution., Methods: We measured emergence, survival, size, and biomass allocation of E. crosbyae seedlings planted in soils collected from 42 outcrops of actual and potential habitat. We also measured phenotypic variation in the wild, documented abiotic and biotic components of E. crosbyae habitat, re-surveyed Nevada populations, and evaluated occupancy changes over time., Results: Plants responded plastically to edaphic variation, growing larger and allocating relatively more to aboveground tissues in soils with greater nutrient availability and growing smaller in soils higher in copper in the field and the greenhouse. However, the chemical and physical soil properties we measured did not predict site occupancy, nor was plant phenotype in the greenhouse different when plants were grown in soils from sites with different occupation status. We observed occupation status reversals at five locations., Conclusions: Eriogonum crosbyae performed well in soils formed on hydrothermally altered rocks that are inhospitable to many other plants. Extirpation/colonization events observed were consistent with metapopulation dynamics, which may partially explain the patchy distribution of E. crosbyae among outcrops of potential habitat. While soil properties did not predict site occupancy, early life stages showed sensitivity to soil variation, indicating that seedling dynamics may be important to consider for the conservation of this soil specialist., (© 2020 Botanical Society of America.)

Understanding local adaptation to climate is critical for managing ecosystems in the face of climate change. While there have been many provenance studies in trees, less is known about local adaptation in herbaceous species, including the perennial grasses that dominate arid and semiarid rangeland ecosystems. We used a common garden study to quantify variation in growth and drought resistance traits in 99 populations of Elymus elymoides from a broad geographic and climatic range in the western United States. Ecotypes from drier sites produced less biomass and smaller seeds, and had traits associated with greater drought resistance: small leaves with low osmotic potential and high integrated water use efficiency (δ 13 C). Seasonality also influenced plant traits. Plants from regions with relatively warm, wet summers had large seeds, large leaves, and low δ 13 C. Irrespective of climate, we also observed trade-offs between biomass production and drought resistance traits. Together, these results suggest that much of the phenotypic variation among E. elymoides ecotypes represents local adaptation to differences in the amount and timing of water availability. In addition, ecotypes that grow rapidly may be less able to persist under dry conditions. Land managers may be able to use this variation to improve restoration success by seeding ecotypes with multiple drought resistance traits in areas with lower precipitation. The future success of this common rangeland species will likely depend on the use of tools such as seed transfer zones to match local variation in growth and drought resistance to predicted climatic conditions., Competing Interests: None declared., (© 2020 The Authors. Evolutionary Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.)

Expansion of native pinyon-juniper (Pinus monophylla-Juniperus osteosperma) woodlands can decrease shrub and herbaceous cover in the Intermountain West, U.S., affecting habitat quality and biodiversity. Removing pinyon-juniper woodlands in former sagebrush ecosystems to increase understory cover has a long management history, and short- and long-term monitoring reveal different understory plant community responses. We revisited a 500 mm average precipitation site in the sagebrush steppe of western Nevada, 32 years after three types of tree thinning treatments and seeding had occurred in a mature, closed-canopy woodland. We measured vegetation foliar cover and density within plots arranged in a 3-block randomized design. We found significantly lower cover of P. monophylla in treated plots (average of 2-8%), relative to controls (32%). However, P. monophylla seedlings (<0.5 m tall) were detected throughout all plots (average of 86-160 trees/ha in treated plots, 111 in controls). Cover of perennial graminoids and shrubs was higher in all treatments (600-870% higher grass cover and 470-570% higher shrub cover) than controls. Cover of invasive annual species, primarily Bromus tectorum, was highly variable and not significantly different among plots, but B. tectorum had the highest cover of all species in two of the three woodland removal treatment types. Control plots contained significantly larger perennial canopy gaps compared to all treatments (average of 318 cm vs. 104-133 cm), and had significantly more woody litter cover than clear cut plots (average of 14% vs. 3%). These results suggest tree thinning and removal in tree dominated woodlands can increase shrub and perennial grass cover and reduce litter and canopy gaps, especially in conjunction with seeding, but that tree recolonization over the long-term is inevitable. Perennial forbs did not respond well to treatments (<1% average foliar cover in all plots), and seeding or other treatments may be needed to improve their response. Further, if tree seedlings survive, these plots will likely return to tree dominance without additional treatments., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Variation in natural selection across heterogeneous landscapes often produces (a) among-population differences in phenotypic traits, (b) trait-by-environment associations, and (c) higher fitness of local populations. Using a broad literature review of common garden studies published between 1941 and 2017, we documented the commonness of these three signatures in plants native to North America's Great Basin, an area of extensive restoration and revegetation efforts, and asked which traits and environmental variables were involved. We also asked, independent of geographic distance, whether populations from more similar environments had more similar traits. From 327 experiments testing 121 taxa in 170 studies, we found 95.1% of 305 experiments reported among-population differences, and 81.4% of 161 experiments reported trait-by-environment associations. Locals showed greater survival in 67% of 24 reciprocal experiments that reported survival, and higher fitness in 90% of 10 reciprocal experiments that reported reproductive output. A meta-analysis on a subset of studies found that variation in eight commonly measured traits was associated with mean annual precipitation and mean annual temperature at the source location, with notably strong relationships for flowering phenology, leaf size, and survival, among others. Although the Great Basin is sometimes perceived as a region of homogeneous ecosystems, our results demonstrate widespread habitat-related population differentiation and local adaptation. Locally sourced plants likely harbor adaptations at rates and magnitudes that are immediately relevant to restoration success, and our results suggest that certain key traits and environmental variables should be prioritized in future assessments of plants in this region., Competing Interests: None declared.

Many drylands have been converted from perennial-dominated ecosystems to invaded, annual-dominated, fire-prone systems. Innovative approaches are needed to disrupt fire-invasion feedbacks. Targeted grazing can reduce invasive plant abundance and associated flammable fuels, and fuelbreaks can limit fire spread. Restored strips of native plants (native greenstrips) can function as fuelbreaks while also providing forage and habitat benefits. However, methods for establishing native greenstrips in invaded drylands are poorly developed. Moreover, if fuels reduction and greenstrip establishment are to proceed simultaneously, it is critical to understand how targeted grazing interacts with plant establishment. We determined how targeted grazing treatments interacted with seed rate, spatial planting arrangement (mixtures vs. monoculture strips), seed coating technology, and species identity (five native grasses) to affect standing biomass and seeded plant density in experimental greenstrips. We monitored for two growing seasons to document effects during the seedling establishment phase. Across planting treatments, ungrazed paddocks had the highest second-year seeded plant densities and the highest standing biomass. Paddocks grazed in fall of the second growing season had fewer seedlings than paddocks grazed in spring, five months later. High seed rates minimized negative effects of grazing on plant establishment. Among seeded species, Elymus trachycaulus and Poa secunda had the highest second-year densities, but achieved this via different pathways. Elymus trachycaulus produced the most first-year seedlings, but declined in response to grazing, whereas P. secunda had moderate first-year establishment but high survival across grazing treatments. We identified clear tradeoffs between reducing fuel loads and establishing native plants in invaded sagebrush steppe; similar tradeoffs may exist in other invaded drylands. In our system, tradeoffs were minimized by boosting seed rates, using grazing-tolerant species, and delaying grazing. In invaded ecosystems, combining targeted grazing with high-input restoration may create opportunities to limit wildfire risk while also shifting vegetation toward more desirable species.

Restoration of agricultural fields is challenging, especially in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. We conducted experiments in two fields in the Great Basin, USA, which differed in cultivation history and fertility. We tested the effects of different levels of functional diversity (planting grasses and shrubs together, vs. planting shrubs alone), seed source (cultivars, local or distant wild-collections), and irrigation regime (spring or fall and spring) on restoration outcomes. We sowed either: 1) grasses and shrubs in year one, 2) shrubs only, in year one, 3) grasses in year one with herbicide, shrubs in year two, or 4) shrubs alone in year two, after a year of herbicide. We irrigated for two years and monitored for three years. Shrub emergence was highest in the lower fertility field, where increasing functional diversity by seeding grasses had a neutral or facilitative effect on shrub emergence. In the higher fertility field, increasing functional diversity appeared to have a neutral to competitive effect. After declines in shrub densities after irrigation ceased, these effects did not persist. Grasses initially suppressed or had a neutral effect on weeds relative to an unseeded control, but had neutral or facilitative effects on weeds relative to shrub-only seeding. Initially, commercial grasses were either equivalent to or outperformed wild-collected grasses, but after irrigation ceased, commercial grasses were outperformed by wild-collected grasses in the higher fertility field. Local shrubs initially outperformed distant shrubs, but this effect did not persist. Fall and spring irrigation combined with local shrubs and wild-collected grasses was the most successful strategy in the higher fertility field, while in the lower fertility field, irrigation timing had fewer effects. Superior shrub emergence and higher grass persistence indicated that the use of wild and local seed sources is generally warranted, whereas the effects of functional diversity and irrigation regime were context-dependent. A bet-hedging approach that uses a variety of strategies may maximize the chances of restoration success., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Spatial and temporal environmental variability can lead to variation in selection pressures across a landscape. Strategies for coping with environmental heterogeneity range from specialized phenotypic responses to a narrow range of conditions to generalist strategies that function under a range of conditions. Here, we ask how mean climate and climate variation at individual sites and across a species' range affect the specialist-generalist spectrum of germination strategies exhibited by 10 arid land forbs. We investigated these relationships using climate data for the western United States, occurrence records from herbaria, and germination trials with field-collected seeds, and predicted that generalist strategies would be most common in species that experience a high degree of climate variation or occur over a wide range of conditions. We used two metrics to describe variation in germination strategies: (a) selectivity (did seeds require specific cues to germinate?) and (b) population-level variation (did populations differ in their responses to germination cues?) in germination displayed by each species. Species exhibited distinct germination strategies, with some species demonstrating as much among-population variation as we observed among species. Modeling efforts suggested that generalist strategies evolve in response to higher spatial variation in actual evapotranspiration at a local scale and in available water in the spring and annual precipitation at a range-wide scale. Describing the conditions that lead to variation in early life-history traits is important for understanding the evolution of diversity in natural systems, as well as the possible responses of individual species to global climate change.

Premise of the Study: Bromus tectorum (Poaceae) is an annual grass species that is invasive in many areas of the world but most especially in the U.S. Intermountain West. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were developed for use in investigating the geospatial and ecological diversity of B. tectorum in the Intermountain West to better understand the mechanisms behind its successful invasion., Methods and Results: Normalized cDNA libraries from six diverse B. tectorum individuals were pooled and sequenced using 454 sequencing. Ninety-five SNP assays were developed for use on 96.96 arrays with the Fluidigm EP1 genotyping platform. Verification of the 95 SNPs by genotyping 251 individuals from 12 populations is reported, along with amplification data from four related Bromus species., Conclusions: These SNP markers are polymorphic across populations of B. tectorum , are optimized for high-throughput applications, and may be applicable to other, related Bromus species.

Background: Although permanent tattoos are becoming increasingly commonplace, there is a paucity of epidemiological data on adverse tattoo reactions. Several European studies have indicated that tattoo reactions may be relatively common, although the extent of this phenomenon in the United States is largely unknown., Objectives: To provide insights into the prevalence and nature of adverse tattoo reactions., Patients/materials/methods: We administered a survey about adverse tattoo reactions to 300 randomly selected tattooed people in Central Park, New York City., Results: Of 300 participants, 31 (10.3%) reported experiencing an adverse tattoo reaction, 13 (4.3%) reported acute reactions, and 18 (6.0%) suffered from a chronic reaction involving a specific colour lasting for >4 months. Forty-four per cent of colour-specific reactions were to red ink, which was only slightly higher than the frequency of red ink in the sampled population (36%). Twenty-five per cent of chronic reactions were to black ink, which was less than expected based on the number of respondents with black tattoos (90.3%). Study participants with chronic, colour-specific reactions had more tattoo colours than those without reactions., Conclusions: This study shows that tattoo reactions are relatively common, and that further investigation into the underlying causes is merited., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Unlabelled: •, Premise of the Study: The ability to respond to environmental change via phenotypic plasticity may be important for plants experiencing disturbances such as climate change and plant invasion. Responding to belowground competition through root plasticity may allow native plants to persist in highly invaded systems such as the cold deserts of the Intermountain West, USA.•, Methods: We investigated whether Poa secunda, a native bunchgrass, could alter root morphology in response to nutrient availability and the presence of a competitive annual grass. Seeds from 20 families were grown with high and low nutrients and harvested after 50 d, and seeds from 48 families, grown with and without Bromus tectorum, were harvested after ∼2 or 6 mo. We measured total biomass, root mass fraction, specific root length (SRL), root tips, allocation to roots of varying diameter, and plasticity in allocation.•, Key Results: Plants had many parallel responses to low nutrients and competition, including increased root tip production, a trait associated with tolerance to reduced resources, though families differed in almost every trait and correlations among trait changes varied among experiments, indicating flexibility in plant responses. Seedlings actively increased SRL and fine root allocation under competition, while older seedlings also increased coarse root allocation, a trait associated with increased tolerance, and increased root mass fraction.•, Conclusions: The high degree of genetic variation for root plasticity within natural populations could aid in the long-term persistence of P. secunda because phenotypic plasticity may allow native species to persist in invaded and fluctuating resource environments., (© 2015 Botanical Society of America, Inc.)

Background: Clinical photography enhances medical care, research, and teaching. Empirical data are needed to guide best practices regarding dermatologic photography., Objective: To investigate patient opinion about clinical photography and identify demographic factors that influence these opinions., Methods and Materials: Four hundred patients representing a broad range of ages, self-identified ethnic/racial groups, and socioeconomic levels were recruited from 4 dermatology settings in New York City. Patients were administered a survey about perceptions of photography, willingness to allow photographs to be used in a variety of settings, preferences for photographer and photographic equipment, and methods of consent., Results: Eighty-eight percent of patients agreed that photography enhanced their quality of care. Most patients would allow their photographs to be used for medical, teaching, and research purposes with significantly more acceptance when patients were not identifiable. Patients preferred photographs taken by a physician rather than a nurse or student, photographers of the same gender, clinic-owned cameras to personal cameras or cell phones, and written consent to verbal consent. There were significant racial/ethnicity and age-related variations in responses, with white and older patients being more permissive than other groups., Conclusion: We use the results of this study to recommend best practices for photography in dermatology.

Studies have documented changes in animal body sizes over the last century, but very little is known about changes in plant sizes, even though reduced plant productivity is potentially responsible for declines in size of other organisms. Here, I ask whether warming trends in the Great Basin have affected plant size by measuring specimens preserved on herbarium sheets collected between 1893 and 2011. I asked how maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation, and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in the year of collection affected plant height, leaf size, and flower number, and asked whether changes in climate resulted in decreasing sizes for seven annual forbs. Species had contrasting responses to climate factors, and would not necessarily be expected to respond in parallel to climatic shifts. There were generally positive relationships between plant size and increased minimum and maximum temperatures, which would have been predicted to lead to small increases in plant sizes over the observation period. While one species increased in size and flower number over the observation period, five of the seven species decreased in plant height, four of these decreased in leaf size, and one species also decreased in flower production. One species showed no change. The mechanisms behind these size changes are unknown, and the limited data available on these species (germination timing, area of occupancy, relative abundance) did not explain why some species shrank while others grew or did not change in size over time. These results show that multiple annual forbs are decreasing in size, but that even within the same functional group, species may have contrasting responses to similar environmental stimuli. Changes in plant size could have cascading effects on other members of these communities, and differential responses to directional change may change the composition of plant communities over time., (© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

RESTORATION IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY NATURAL SELECTION: One can measure the distribution of traits in source propagules used to found populations, compare this with the distribution of traits in successful recruits, and determine the strength and direction of selection on potentially adaptive traits. We investigated whether natural selection influenced seedling establishment during postfire restoration in the Great Basin, an area where large-scale restoration occurs with a few widely available cultivars planted over a large range of environmental conditions. We collected seeds from established plants of the perennial grass Elymus elymoides ssp. californicus (squirreltail) at two restoration sites and compared the distribution of phenotypic traits of surviving plants with the original pool of restoration seeds. Seeds were planted in common gardens for two generations. Plants grown from seeds that established in the field were a nonrandom subset of the original seeds, with directional selection consistently favoring a correlated suite of traits in both field sites: small plant and seed size, and earlier flowering phenology. These results demonstrate that natural selection can affect restoration establishment in strong and predictable ways and that adaptive traits in these sites were opposite of the current criteria used for selection of restoration material in this system.

Species invasion is a complex, multifactor process. To encapsulate this complexity into an intuitively appealing, simple, and straightforward manner, we present an organizational framework in the form of an invasion triangle. The invasion triangle is an adaptation of the disease triangle used by plant pathologists to help envision and evaluate interactions among a host, a pathogen, and an environment. Our modification of this framework for invasive species incorporates the major processes that result in invasion as the three sides of the triangle: (1) attributes of the potential invader; (2) biotic characteristics of a potentially invaded site; and (3) environmental conditions of the site. The invasion triangle also includes the impact of external influences on each side of the triangle, such as climate and land use change. This paper introduces the invasion triangle, discusses how accepted invasion hypotheses are integrated in this framework, describes how the invasion triangle can be used to focus research and management, and provides examples of application. The framework provided by the invasion triangle is easy to use by both researchers and managers and also applicable at any level of data intensity, from expert opinion to highly controlled experiments. The organizational framework provided by the invasion triangle is beneficial for understanding and predicting why species are invasive in specific environments, for identifying knowledge gaps, for facilitating communication, and for directing management in regard to invasive species.

Widespread invasion by Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) in the Intermountain West has drastically altered native plant communities. We investigated whether Elymus multisetus (big squirreltail) is evolving in response to invasion and what traits contribute to increased performance. Seedlings from invaded areas exhibited significantly greater tolerance to B. tectorum competition and a greater ability to suppress B. tectorum biomass than seedlings from adjacent uninvaded areas. To identify potentially adaptive traits, we examined which phenological and phenotypic traits were correlated with seedling performance within the uninvaded area, determined their genetic variation by measuring sibling resemblance, and asked whether trait distribution had shifted in invaded areas. Increased tolerance to competition was correlated with early seedling root to shoot ratio, root fork number, and fine root length. Root forks differed among families, but none of these traits differed significantly across invasion status. Additionally, we surveyed more broadly for traits that varied between invaded and uninvaded areas. Elymus multisetus plants collected from invaded areas were smaller, allocated more biomass to roots, and produced a higher percentage of fine roots than plants from uninvaded areas. The ability of native populations to evolve in response to invasion has significant implications for the management and restoration of B. tectorum-invaded communities.

Invasive species can change selective pressures on native plants by altering biotic and abiotic conditions in invaded habitats. Although invasions can lead to native species extirpation, they may also induce rapid evolutionary changes in remnant native plants. We investigated whether adult plants of five native perennial grasses exhibited trait shifts consistent with evolution in response to invasion by the introduced annual grass Bromus tectorum L. (cheatgrass), and asked how much variation there was among species and populations in the ability to grow successfully with the invader. Three hundred and twenty adult plants were collected from invaded and uninvaded communities from four locations near Reno, Nevada, USA. Each plant was divided in two and transplanted into the greenhouse. One clone was grown with B. tectorum while the other was grown alone, and we measured tolerance (ability to maintain size) and the ability to reduce size of B. tectorum for each plant. Plants from invaded populations consistently had earlier phenology than those from uninvaded populations, and in two out of four sites, invaded populations were more tolerant of B. tectorum competition than uninvaded populations. Poa secunda and one population of E. multisetus had the strongest suppressive effect on B. tectorum, and these two species were the only ones that flowered in competition with B. tectorum. Our study indicates that response to B. tectorum is a function of both location and species identity, with some, but not all, populations of native grasses showing trait shifts consistent with evolution in response to B. tectorum invasion within the Great Basin.

Invasive species may establish in communities because they are better competitors than natives, but in order to remain community dominants, the competitive advantage of invasive species must be persistent. Native species that are not extirpated when highly invasive species are introduced are likely to compete with invaders. When population sizes and genetic diversity of native species are large enough, natives may be able to evolve traits that allow them to co-occur with invasive species. Native species may also evolve to become significant competitors with invasive species, and thus affect the fitness of invaders. Invasive species may respond in turn, creating either transient or continuing coevolution between competing species. In addition to demographic factors such as population size and growth rates, a number of factors including gene flow, genetic drift, the number of selection agents, encounter rates, and genetic diversity may affect the ability of native and invasive species to evolve competitive ability against one another. We discuss how these factors may differ between populations of native and invasive plants, and how this might affect their ability to respond to selection. Management actions that maintain genetic diversity in native species while reducing population sizes and genetic diversity in invasive species could promote the ability of natives to evolve improved competitive ability.

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is an invasive weed in western North America found primarily growing at elevations less than 2200 m. We asked whether cheatgrass is capable of becoming adapted to a marginal habitat, by investigating a population at a high elevation invasion edge. We used a combination of methods, including reciprocal field transplants, controlled environment studies and molecular analysis. High levels of SSR gene diversity (0.50 vs. 0.43) and comparable variation in phenotypic traits were observed at both the invasion edge and a low elevation, high-density population. Three heterozygotes were observed in the edge population, which is unusual in this predominantly self-pollinating plant. Plants from high elevations germinated more slowly in a growth chamber and had slower seedling growth rates. Survivorship was low at the edge (13%), compared with the low elevation site (55%), but surviving plants were of similar size and had equivalent reproductive output. Seed size positively affected survival and plant performance in the field and this trait was inherited. Emergence timing affected survival at the low elevation site and germination timing was also inherited. Local adaptation was seen in the low, rather than in the high elevation site, because of differential survival. While there was no evidence for local adaptation to the high elevation site observed in the field, family level and genotype-level differences in traits that affected field performance, high genetic diversity at the invasion edge, and evidence of outcrossing in this highly selfing species indicates that the potential for adaptation to a marginal habitat exists within this population.

Both ecological and molecular methods have been applied to the study of locally adapted populations. While Clausen et al. (1940) were the pioneers of field transplant studies, the work of Robert Allard et al. on the invasive species Avena barbata is a classic example of using molecular evidence to infer adaptation via correlation of particular alleles with environmental gradients. In a new study published in this issue of Molecular Ecology, Latta (2009) combines ecological methods (reciprocal environment studies) with quantitative genetic techniques (recombinant inbred lines and quantitative trait analysis) to provide new evidence for local adaptation within this well known system. The conclusions are orthogonal to the original hypothesis, and instead, provide evidence that factors other than local adaptation were likely responsible for the historically observed patterns. This new evidence suggests that one ecotype is generally more fit than the other in both a moist and a dry environment, and accordingly, it appears to be increasing in frequency in historically surveyed populations.

Changes in the species composition of biotic communities may alter patterns of natural selection occurring within them. Native perennial grass species in the Intermountain West are experiencing a shift in the composition of interspecific competitors from primarily perennial species to an exotic, annual grass. Thus traits that confer an advantage to perennial grasses in the presence of novel annual competitors may evolve in invaded communities. Here I show that such traits are apparent in populations of a native perennial grass, big squirreltail (Elymus multisetus M.E. Jones), exposed to cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) competitors. Dormant big squirreltail plants were collected from cheatgrass-invaded and uninvaded sites near Bordertown, California, USA, a mid-elevation (1600 m) sagebrush community, and transplanted into pots in a greenhouse. Individual plants were split into equal halves. One half was grown with competition from cheatgrass, and the other half was grown without competition. Plants collected from invaded sites responded more quickly to watering, growing more leaves in the first 10 days after transplanting. In addition, big squirreltail plants collected from invaded areas experienced a smaller decrease in plant size when grown with competition than did plants collected from uninvaded areas. Accordingly, while there were fewer big squirreltail individuals in the invaded sites, they were more competitive with cheatgrass than were the more abundant conspecifics in nearby uninvaded areas. It is possible that annual grasses were the selective force that caused these population differences, which may contribute to the long-term persistence of the native populations. While it is tempting to restore degraded areas to higher densities of natives (usually done by bringing in outside seed material), such actions may impede long-term adaptation to new conditions by arresting or reversing the direction of ongoing natural selection in the resident population. If hot spots of rapid evolutionary change can be identified within invaded systems, these areas should be managed to promote desirable change and could serve as possible sources of restoration material or reveal traits that should be prioritized during the development of restoration seed material.

Insight into the speed and predictability of local adaptation can be gained by studying organisms, such as invasive species, that have recently expanded their geographical ranges. Common garden studies were designed to address these issues with the California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, collected from a wide range of environments in both its native (California) and invasive (Chile) ranges. We found similar patterns of plant trait variation along similar abiotic gradients in plants collected from both areas. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that coastal plants from both areas tended to be shorter, smaller plants with smaller seeds and flowers that germinate and flower later than plants collected from inland locations. In addition, size and fecundity traits in both native and invasive poppies were correlated with average rainfall totals; the plants that grew the largest and were the most fecund during the first year of growth originated from the driest areas. This parallel variation suggests that these traits are adaptive and that these patterns have evolved in Chile during the 110-150 years since introduction.

We addressed the general question of how kin recognition cues develop by investigating cue differentiation between colonies of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. In honey bee colonies, exposure to the wax comb is a critical component of the development of kin recognition cues. In this study, we determined how the cues develop under natural conditions (in swarms), whether the genetic source and age of the wax affect cue ontogeny, and whether exposure to wax, as in normal development, affects preferential feeding among bees within social groups. Cue development in swarms coincided with wax production, rather than with the presence of brood or the emergence of new workers; this finding supported previous observations concerning the importance of wax in cue ontogeny. Effective cue development required a match between the genetic source of the workers attempting to enter the hive, the wax to which they were exposed, and the guards at the hive entrance. The wax must also have been exposed to the hive environment for some time. Cues gained from wax did not mask or override cues used in preferential feeding interactions; this finding supports the contention that two recognition systems, one for nestmate recognition and the other for intra-colonial recognition, are present. The results fit a general model for cue development in nestmate recognition that relies on the use of nesting materials as an intermediary; the evolutionary significance of this model is discussed. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.