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Climate change may hinder species' ability to evolutionarily adapt to environmental shifts. Assisted gene flow, introducing adaptive alleles into target populations, could be a viable solution for keystone species. Our study aimed to evaluate the benefits and limitations of assisted gene flow in enhancing the evolutionary potential of Lupinus angustifolius L. (Fabaceae), considering both phenotypic and genomic perspectives. We collected seeds from four populations in Spain at two latitudes (north and south), and grew them in a common garden. We used pollen from southern individuals to pollinate northern plants and create an F1 gene flow line that would advance its flowering onset. In the next season, we allowed F1 plants to self-pollinate creating an F2 self-pollination line. We also created a backcross line by pollinating control northern plants with pollen from F1 plants. We measured flowering onset, reproductive success, and other plant traits in all resulting lines. In parallel, we sequenced genes related to reproduction, growth, stress, nitrogen, and alkaloids. All gene flow-derived lines flowered significantly earlier than the control lines from the northern populations. F1 gene flow line plants produced heavier seeds and had a lower shoot growth than those from the northern control lines. Genomic analyses identified 36 outlier SNPs between the control and the F1 gene flow lines, associated with differences in flowering onset, seed weight, and shoot growth. These results underscore that assisted gene flow can enhance a population's evolutionary potential by altering specific traits. However, altering one trait may impact others in a way that depends on the intrinsic characteristics of each population., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2025 The Author(s). Evolutionary Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

In the present framework of global warming, it is unclear whether evolutionary adaptation can happen quick enough to preserve the persistence of many species. Specifically, we lack knowledge about the adaptive potential of the different populations in relation to the various constraints that may hamper particular adaptations. There is evidence indicating that early flowering often provides an adaptive advantage to plants in temperate zones in response to global warming. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the adaptive potential for advancing flowering onset in Lupinus angustifolius L. (Fabaceae). Seeds from four populations from two contrasting latitudes in Spain were collected and sown in a common garden environment. Selecting the 25% of the individuals that flowered earlier in the first generation, over three generations, three different early flowering selection lines were established, involving both self-crosses and outcrosses. All artificial selection lines advanced their flowering significantly with respect to the control line in the northernmost populations, but not in the southern ones. Selection lines obtained from outcrossing had a greater advancement in flowering than those from self-crossing. No differences were found in the number or weight of the seeds produced between control and artificial selection lines, probably because plants in the common garden were drip irrigated. These results suggest that northern populations may have a greater adaptive potential and that southern populations may be more vulnerable in the context of climate warming. However, earlier flowering was also associated with changes in other traits (height, biomass, shoot growth, specific leaflet area, and leaflet dry matter content), and the effects of these changes varied greatly depending on the latitude of the population and selection line. Assessments of the ability of populations to cope with climate change through this and other approaches are essential to manage species and populations in a more efficient way., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Evolutionary Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Environmental variation within a species' range can create contrasting selective pressures, leading to divergent selection and novel adaptations. The conservation value of populations inhabiting environmentally marginal areas remains in debate and is closely related to the adaptive potential in changing environments. Strong selection caused by stressful conditions may generate novel adaptations, conferring these populations distinct evolutionary potential and high conservation value under climate change. On the other hand, environmentally marginal populations may be genetically depauperate, with little potential for new adaptations to emerge. Here, we explored the use of ecological niche models (ENMs) linked with common garden experiments to predict and test for genetically determined phenotypic differentiation related to contrasting environmental conditions. To do so, we built an ENM for the alpine plant Silene ciliata in central Spain and conducted common garden experiments, assessing flowering phenology changes and differences in leaf cell resistance to extreme temperatures. The suitability patterns and response curves of the ENM led to the predictions that: (1) the environmentally marginal populations experiencing less snowpack and higher minimum temperatures would have delayed flowering to avoid risks of late-spring frosts and (2) those with higher minimum temperatures and greater potential evapotranspiration would show enhanced cell resistance to high temperatures to deal with physiological stress related to desiccation and heat. The common garden experiments revealed the expected genetically based phenotypic differentiation in flowering phenology. In contrast, they did not show the expected differentiation for cell resistance, but these latter experiments had high variance and hence lower statistical power. The results highlight ENMs as useful tools to identify contrasting putative selective pressures across species ranges. Linking ENMs with common garden experiments provides a theoretically justified and practical way to study adaptive processes, including insights regarding the conservation value of populations inhabiting environmentally marginal areas under ongoing climate change., (© 2022 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)