Trait-Specific Patterns of Phenotypic Differentiation Among Populations After Two Generations of Common-Garden Cultivation in a Wind-Pollinated Grass

Odongo, Hilda Meso and Halassy, Melinda and Csergő, Anna Mária and Török, Katalin (2026) Trait-Specific Patterns of Phenotypic Differentiation Among Populations After Two Generations of Common-Garden Cultivation in a Wind-Pollinated Grass. PLANTS-BASEL, 15 (17). No. 2556. ISSN 2223-7747

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Abstract

Seed transfer guidelines are used in ecological restoration to reduce the maladaptation risk from non-local genotypes. Researchers often examine second-generation populations under uniform conditions to isolate adaptation from environmental responses. However, in outcrossing species, interpreting these traits may be challenging if uncontrolled gene flow and recombination among provenances influence offspring phenotypes. We compared seed germination and seedling traits of the wind-pollinated grass Festuca vaginata, a dominant species of open sand grasslands in Hungary, across seed transfer zones (STZs) and localities. We used a two-generation common garden experiment with uncontrolled gene flow. Our results reveal that under common garden cultivation, the transgenerational stability of population differentiation is traitspecific. While locality effects on germination disappeared in the second generation, phenotypic variation in biomass and leaf length persisted, suggesting that shared environments homogenize germination faster than vegetative traits. As wind-pollinated species often exhibit weak regional genetic structuring, STZs may not capture the primary axis of phenotypic variation in specific traits. While not invalidating the use of STZs, our findings suggest that seed sourcing strategies should, if feasible, consider locality-level variation when using wind-pollinated grasses for species reintroduction.

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