Abstract Detail

Nº613/698 - Intraspecific trait variability within and across generations: implications for coexistence and stability
Format: ORAL
Authors
Francesco de Bello1, Vit Latzel2, Maria del Mar Sobral Bernal3, Javier Puy4, Christina Richards5
Affiliations
1 Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE-CSIC), Valencia, Spain 2 Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Botany, Pruhonice, Czech Republic 3 University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain 4 Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Spain 5 University of South Florida, USA, & University of Tübingen, Germany
Abstract
To comprehend the responses of ecosystems to global change, unraveling the dynamics of biological diversity and ecosystem function over time is imperative. A key pursuit in this context is deciphering the factors fostering coexistence and resilience to environmental shifts within communities and populations. Ecologists have debated various mechanisms modulating local biodiversity effects on ecosystem properties although effects within populations remain largely unexplored. Ecological mechanisms act initially on individuals, scaling up to communities and ecosystems, shaping and being shaped by Intraspecific Trait Variability (ITV). These variations stem from diverse sources: genetic (attributed to DNA differences) or non-genetic (e.g., epigenetic mechanisms without DNA sequence modifications). Genetic diversity is believed to empower populations to adapt to changing environmental conditions by providing a broader array of phenotypes from which the fittest can be selected. Concurrently, the ability of an organism to adjust trait expression in response to the environment (i.e., phenotypic plasticity) can be also heritable. Plasticity, in fact, does not allow only short-term responses within an individuals lifetime (within-generation plasticity) but also cause inherited differences across generations (transgenerational plasticity). The relative impact of genetic versus non-genetic heritable mechanisms, encompassing their temporal extents and responsiveness to different environmental drivers, remains largely unknown. Questions persist regarding the cumulative nature of non-genetic effects in stable environmental conditions across generations and the reversibility of induced differences when environmental conditions shift. Addressing these issues necessitates researchers to develop new approaches to evaluate how genetic diversity and non-genetic inheritance diversity intersect with population stability over time. Additionally, outlining experimental approaches to tackle these questions is crucial. This contribution seeks to synthesize ideas and perspectives aimed at understanding the interplay between genetic and non-genetic effects on short- and long-term phenotypic variation within species. It explores how these effects influence coexistence and ecological stability.