Estrès, reproducció i senescència en l’èxit invasor: l’estudi de cas de Carpobrotus edulis

[cat] Les espècies exòtiques invasores constitueixen una de les majors amenaces a la biodiversitat global. Aquelles àrees que acullen un gran nombre d’espècies natives, i constitueixen per tant punts calents de biodiversitat tals com la conca Mediterrània, són especialment sensibles a aquests agents de canvi. Carpobrotus edulis és una espècie clonal àmpliament distribuïda arreu del món que ha esdevingut invasora a les regions mediterrànies, on provoca la reducció de la biodiversitat nativa alterant les propietats fisicoquímiques del sòl. L’objectiu de la tesi és entendre els mecanismes fisiològics que determinen l’èxit invasor de l’espècie a la conca Mediterrània, relacionant les respostes a l’estrès, a la reproducció i a la senescència, que en conjunt defineixen la història vital de l’espècie. Els resultats obtinguts mostren que C. edulis es troba adaptada a les condicions ambientals de la conca Mediterrània gràcies a la seva gran plasticitat fisiològica en resposta a la baixa disponibilitat hídrica característica de l’estiu i les baixes temperatures característiques de l’hivern, els dos moments més durs per a la vegetació durant l’anualitat en aquesta regió. El model de distribució de l’espècie construït juntament amb la major tolerància a les baixes temperatures que presenten els individus de C. edulis del rang invasor revelen que la capacitat de l’espècie per a tolerar l’estrès resulta crucial per a la seva invasió a Europa. C. edulis és una espècie clonal monocàrpica a nivell de ramet però policàrpica a nivell de genet. Aquesta estratègia constitueix un procés de senescència adaptativa ja que la mort del ramet facilita el creixement a les següents generacions. L’elevat esforç reproductor de l’espècie, l’elevada producció de llavors i la seva gran longevitat contribueixen a la formació d’un banc de llavors persistent que incrementen l’impacte de l’espècie i la seva persistència. La variabilitat en els atributs relacionats amb la reproducció sexual genera diferències en les dinàmiques del banc de llavors en diferents localitzacions dins del rang invasor. Aquesta variabilitat a diferents escales contribueix a l’èxit de l’espècie a través de l’optimització de recursos, la resiliència a pertorbacions i a través de permetre processos adaptatius a nivell d’individu. En conjunt, la invasió de C. edulis a la conca Mediterrània és conseqüència d’un procés de retroalimentació positiva d’expansió i impacte a través de la interacció entre la tolerància a l’estrès, l’esforç reproductor i la senescència adaptativa. Aquestes relacions i dinàmiques poden contribuir a la delimitació d’àrees prioritàries per l’erradicació de C. edulis en el territori. En conclusió, la invasió de C. edulis ha estat possible no només gràcies a atributs tals com el creixement clonal, l’elevat esforç reproductor, la formació d’un banc de llavors persistent, els cicles de vida curts i l’elevada plasticitat; sinó també gràcies a factors relacionats amb el factor humà com la degradació ecosistèmica i l’elevada pressió de propàgul associada a l’interès ornamental de l’espècie.[eng] Invasive species constitute one of the main threats to global biodiversity. Especially those areas hosting a huge number of native species, such as the Mediterranean basin, are sensitive to these change drivers. Carpobrotus edulis is a widespread clonal invasive species that has become invasive at the Mediterranean basin reducing native biodiversity by strongly impacting the physicochemical soil properties. We aimed to understand C. edulis invasive success through an ecophysiological approach by understanding the relationships between its stress tolerance, reproduction capacity and the role of senescence in its fitness, which together define the species’ life history strategy. Our results showed that C. edulis is adapted to the Mediterranean basin environmental conditions showing a high physiological plasticity in response to drought and chilling, the most sensitive periods along the year in the Mediterranean area. The species stress tolerance was crucial to invade Europe as revealed by the projected species distribution model and the increased chilling tolerance found in C. edulis invasive individuals. C. edulis is a monocarpic clonal species at the ramet level but polycarpic at the genet level, which constitutes and adaptive senescence process to growth facilitation to the next generations. High reproductive effort, seed production and seed longevity contribute to the formation of a persistent seed bank for this species increasing its impact and persistence potential. Seed trait variability across the invaded range generates differential soil seed bank dynamics that may be considered for improving management policies. This variability at different scales may contribute to species success by resource optimization, perturbation resilience and allowing adaptation. Overall, the C. edulis invasion at the Mediterranean basin results from a positive feedback of expansion and impacts through the interaction of species stress tolerance, reproductive effort and adaptive senescence. We conclude that the invasion of C. edulis in Europe has been possible not only by its ideal traits such as clonality, strong reproductive effort, the formation of a persistent soil seed bank, short life cycles and high plasticity, but also thanks to human factors such as the strong propagule pressure associated with its ornamental interest

A rapid and sensitive method to assess seed longevity through accelerated aging in an invasive plant species

Background: Seed longevity and vigor assessment is crucial for efficient ex situ biodiversity conservation in genebanks but may also have potential applications for the understanding of ecological processes and in situ biodiversity conservation. In fact, one of the factors determining the persistence of invasive species, a main threat to global biodiversity, is the generation of soil seed banks where seeds may remain viable for several years. Artificial seed aging tests using high temperatures and high relative humidity have been described for seed longevity estimation but have been mainly optimized for species with commercial interest. Thus, the aim of the study is to define a rapid and sensitive method to assess seed longevity and vigor through accelerated aging in the worldwide distributed invasive species Carpobrotus edulis to provide tools to biodiversity managers to evaluate invasive potential and develop effective post-eradication plans. Results:Slow seed deterioration rate was obtained when C. edulis seeds were subjected to common accelerated aging temperatures (43-45 °C). This contrasts with the rapid viability decay between 24-72 h when seeds were subjected to temperatures superior to 55 °C, a strong inflection point for this species' thermosensitivity. Relative humidity also played a role in defining seed survival curves, but only at high temperatures, speeding up the deterioration process. The selected aging conditions, 55 °C at 87% relative humidity were tested over two C. edulis populations and three measures were proposed to parametrize the differential sigmoidal seed survival curves, defining the seed resistance to deterioration (L5, aging time where 95% of seeds maintain their viability), medium longevity (L50, 50% of seeds lose their viability) and lethal aging time (L95, 95% of viability loss). Conclusions: An accelerated aging test at 55 °C and 87% relative humidity constitutes a rapid and sensitive method that can be performed within a working week, allowing managers to easily test seed vigor and longevity. This test may contribute to assess invasive potential, design effective monitoring programs and soil seed bank eradication treatments

Geographic Patterns of seed trait variation in an invasive species: how much can close populations differ?

Seeds play a major role in plant species persistence and expansion, and therefore they are essential when modeling species dynamics. However, homogeneity in seed traits is generally assumed, underestimating intraspecifc trait variability across the geographic space, which might bias species success models. The aim of this study was to evaluate the existence and consequences of interpopulation variability in seed traits of the invasive species Carpobrotus edulis at diferent geographical scales. We measured seed production, morphology, vigour and longevity of nine populations of C. edulis along the Catalan coast (NE Spain) from three diferentiated zones with a human presence gradient. Geographic distances between populations were contrasted against individual and multivariate trait distances to explore trait variation along the territory, evaluating the role of bioclimatic variables and human density of the diferent zones. The analysis revealed high interpopulation variability that was not explained by geographic distance, as regardless of the little distance between some populations (<0.5 km), signifcant diferences were found in several seed traits. Seed production, germination, and persistence traits showed the strongest spatial variability up to 6000% of percent trait variability between populations, leading to diferentiated C. edulis soil seed bank dynamics at small distances, which may demand diferentiated strategies for a cost-efective species management. Seed trait variability was infuenced by human density but also bioclimatic conditions, suggesting a potential impact of increased anthropogenic pressure and climate shifts. Geographic interpopulation trait variation should be included in ecological models and will be important for assessing species responses to environmental heterogeneity and change

A standard protocol to report discrete stage-structured demographic information

Stage-based demographic methods, such as matrix population models (MPMs), are powerful tools used to address a broad range of fundamental questions in ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation science. Accordingly, MPMs now exist for over 3000 species worldwide. These data are being digitised as an ongoing process and periodically released into two large open-access online repositories: the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database and the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database. During the last decade, data archiving and curation of COMPADRE and COMADRE, and subsequent comparative research, have revealed pronounced variation in how MPMs are parameterized and reported. Here, we summarise current issues related to the parameterisation and reporting of MPMs that arise most frequently and outline how they affect MPM construction, analysis, and interpretation. To quantify variation in how MPMs are reported, we present results from a survey identifying key aspects of MPMs that are frequently unreported in manuscripts. We then screen COMPADRE and COMADRE to quantify how often key pieces of information are omitted from manuscripts using MPMs. Over 80% of surveyed researchers (n = 60) state a clear benefit to adopting more standardised methodologies for reporting MPMs. Furthermore, over 85% of the 300 MPMs assessed from COMPADRE and COMADRE omitted one or more elements that are key to their accurate interpretation. Based on these insights, we identify fundamental issues that can arise from MPM construction and communication and provide suggestions to improve clarity, reproducibility and future research utilising MPMs and their required metadata. To fortify reproducibility and empower researchers to take full advantage of their demographic data, we introduce a standardised protocol to present MPMs in publications. This standard is linked to www.compa dre-db.org, so that authors wishing to archive their MPMs can do so prior to submission of publications, following examples from other open-access repositories such as DRYAD, Figshare and Zenodo. Combining and standardising MPMs parameterized from populations around the globe and across the tree of life opens up powerful research opportunities in evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation research. However, this potential can only be fully realised by adopting standardised methods to ensure reproducibility

A standard protocol to report discrete stage-structured demographic information

Stage-based demographic methods, such as matrix population models (MPMs), are powerful tools used to address a broad range of fundamental questions in ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation science. Accordingly, MPMs now exist for over 3000 species worldwide. These data are being digitised as an ongoing process and periodically released into two large open-access online repositories: the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database and the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database. During the last decade, data archiving and curation of COMPADRE and COMADRE, and subsequent comparative research, have revealed pronounced variation in how MPMs are parameterized and reported. Here, we summarise current issues related to the parameterisation and reporting of MPMs that arise most frequently and outline how they affect MPM construction, analysis, and interpretation. To quantify variation in how MPMs are reported, we present results from a survey identifying key aspects of MPMs that are frequently unreported in manuscripts. We then screen COMPADRE and COMADRE to quantify how often key pieces of information are omitted from manuscripts using MPMs. Over 80% of surveyed researchers (n = 60) state a clear benefit to adopting more standardised methodologies for reporting MPMs. Furthermore, over 85% of the 300 MPMs assessed from COMPADRE and COMADRE omitted one or more elements that are key to their accurate interpretation. Based on these insights, we identify fundamental issues that can arise from MPM construction and communication and provide suggestions to improve clarity, reproducibility and future research utilising MPMs and their required metadata. To fortify reproducibility and empower researchers to take full advantage of their demographic data, we introduce a standardised protocol to present MPMs in publications. This standard is linked to www.compadre-db.org, so that authors wishing to archive their MPMs can do so prior to submission of publications, following examples from other open-access repositories such as DRYAD, Figshare and Zenodo. Combining and standardising MPMs parameterized from populations around the globe and across the tree of life opens up powerful research opportunities in evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation research. However, this potential can only be fully realised by adopting standardised methods to ensure reproducibility

Functional responses to climate change may increase invasive potential of Carpobrotus edulis

Premise: Biological invasions and climate change are major threats to biodiversity. It is therefore important to anticipate how the climate changes projected for Southern Europe would affect the ecophysiological performance of the invasive South African plant, Carpobrotus edulis (ice plant or sour fig), and its capacity to undergo rapid adaptive evolution. Methods: We manipulated the climate conditions in a field plot located on the island of Sálvora (northwest of the Iberian Peninsula) to establish a full factorial experiment with C. edulis plants transplanted from four native (southern African) and four invasive (northwestern Iberian Peninsula) populations. Throughout 14 months we measured growth and functional traits of this species under two temperatures (control vs. increased), and two rainfall levels (control vs. reduced). Results: Temperature increased photochemical efficiency and relative growth rate of C. edulis. Rainfall modulated some of the effects of temperature on C and N isotopic composition, and pigment contents. Invasive populations showed lower root mass allocation and higher survival rates, as well as increased water use efficiency, lipid peroxidation, chlorophyll, and xanthophyll cycle pigment contents than native populations. Conclusions: The increased growth and physiological performances observed under our experimental conditions suggest that the expected climate changes would further promote the invasion of C. edulis. Differences between native and invasive genotypes in survival and functional traits revealed that populations have diverged during the process of invasion, what gives support to the invasiveness hypothesis. Our findings highlight the importance of analyzing intraspecific variability in functional responses to better predict how invasive species will respond to environmental changesThe authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for funding the study (grants Ref. CGL2013-48885-C2-2-R and Ref. CGL2017-87294-C3-1-P, awarded to R.R.)S

Linking integrative plant physiology with agronomy to sustain future plant production

Sustainable production of high-quality food is one of today’s major challenges of agriculture. To achieve this goal, a better understanding of plant physiological processes and a more integrated approach with respect to current agronomical practices are needed. In this review, various examples of cooperation between integrative plant physiology and agronomy are discussed, and this demonstrates the complexity of these interrelations. The examples are meant to stimulate discussions on how both research areas can deliver solutions to avoid looming food crises due to population growth and climate change. In the last decades, unprecedented progress has been made in the understanding of how plants grow and develop in a variety of environments and in response to biotic stresses, but appropriate management and interpretation of the resulting complex datasets remains challenging. After providing an historical overview of integrative plant physiology, we discuss possible avenues of integration, involving advances in integrative plant physiology, to sustain plant production in the current post-omics era. Finally, recommendations are provided on how to practice the transdisciplinary mindset required, emphasising a broader approach to sustainable production of high-quality food in the future, whereby all those who are involved are made partners in knowledge generation processes through transdisciplinary cooperation

A standard protocol to report discrete stage‐structured demographic information

Stage-based demographic methods, such as matrix population models (MPMs), are powerful tools used to address a broad range of fundamental questions in ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation science. Accordingly, MPMs now exist for over 3000 species worldwide. These data are being digitised as an ongoing process and periodically released into two large open-access online repositories: the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database and the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database. During the last decade, data archiving and curation of COMPADRE and COMADRE, and subsequent comparative research, have revealed pronounced variation in how MPMs are parameterized and reported.Here, we summarise current issues related to the parameterisation and reporting of MPMs that arise most frequently and outline how they affect MPM construction, analysis, and interpretation. To quantify variation in how MPMs are reported, we present results from a survey identifying key aspects of MPMs that are frequently unreported in manuscripts. We then screen COMPADRE and COMADRE to quantify how often key pieces of information are omitted from manuscripts using MPMs.Over 80% of surveyed researchers (n = 60) state a clear benefit to adopting more standardised methodologies for reporting MPMs. Furthermore, over 85% of the 300 MPMs assessed from COMPADRE and COMADRE omitted one or more elements that are key to their accurate interpretation. Based on these insights, we identify fundamental issues that can arise from MPM construction and communication and provide suggestions to improve clarity, reproducibility and future research utilising MPMs and their required metadata. To fortify reproducibility and empower researchers to take full advantage of their demographic data, we introduce a standardised protocol to present MPMs in publications. This standard is linked to www.compadre-db.org, so that authors wishing to archive their MPMs can do so prior to submission of publications, following examples from other open-access repositories such as DRYAD, Figshare and Zenodo.Combining and standardising MPMs parameterized from populations around the globe and across the tree of life opens up powerful research opportunities in evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation research. However, this potential can only be fully realised by adopting standardised methods to ensure reproducibility