Plants may be evolving the wrong traits for a warming world
A University of Michigan study indicates that plants like morning glories may be evolving to prioritize pollinator attraction over climate adaptation. This evolutionary trade-off could limit a plant's ability to survive in a warming world, potentially impacting agricultural ecosystems.
Why it matters
Understanding these evolutionary constraints is critical for predicting how plant species and agricultural crops will respond to the dual pressures of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Plants facing both a warming climate and rapidly declining pollinator populations may be pulled in competing evolutionary directions. A University of Michigan study suggests that, instead of adapting primarily to climate pressures, some plants may be evolving traits that help them attract pollinators.
In morning glories, researchers found that the population's rate of adaptation fell by 96% over nine years. That sharp slowdown could also have implications for agriculture because morning glory is often considered a troublesome weed by farmers.
"Because pollinator pressure strongly favors larger flowers, that linkage may limit how efficiently the population can respond to other selective pressures. Whether that ultimately makes the weed more or less of a problem for farmers is hard to predict -- and that unpredictability is itself part of the story," said Regina Baucom, a professor in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
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