Reassessing Adaptational Lag in Eriophorum vaginatum: Short-Term Responses to Reciprocal Transplant and Passive Warming Experiments in Northern Alaska

Previous Eriophorum vaginatum studies have detected adaptational lag in response to climate change. We revisited this concept through a short-term reciprocal transplant experiment combined with warming via open-top chambers (OTCs). We asked: 1) if population growth rates of different ecotypes respon...

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Main Authors: Jennifer Lynn Chandler, James B McGraw, Michael L Moody, Jianwu Tang, Janice Voltzow, Ned Fetcher
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2025-08-01
Series:Arctic Science
Online Access:https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2025-0006
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author Jennifer Lynn Chandler
James B McGraw
Michael L Moody
Jianwu Tang
Janice Voltzow
Ned Fetcher
author_facet Jennifer Lynn Chandler
James B McGraw
Michael L Moody
Jianwu Tang
Janice Voltzow
Ned Fetcher
author_sort Jennifer Lynn Chandler
collection DOAJ
description Previous Eriophorum vaginatum studies have detected adaptational lag in response to climate change. We revisited this concept through a short-term reciprocal transplant experiment combined with warming via open-top chambers (OTCs). We asked: 1) if population growth rates of different ecotypes responded differently to reciprocal transplant, 2) if home-site advantage existed, and 3) if an interaction of ecotype, transplant garden, and OTC treatment existed. We established three transplant gardens, two north of the Brooks Range (Toolik and Sagwon) and one south (Coldfoot); OTCs were deployed in northern gardens. We censused tillers in 2016 and 2017. Lefkovitch matrices were jackknifed using Yellow Taxi Analysis to quantify each tiller’s contribution to population growth rate, which were incorporated into nested ANOVAs. Of tussocks grown in ambient temperature, mean tiller population growth from different source ecotypes did not respond differently to transplant. Home site advantage was not observed among tillers not exposed to warming via OTC, which may indicate adaptational lag is occurring. Mean population growth rate of OTC-exposed tillers was higher at Toolik than Sagwon. This study’s short duration likely limited our ability to detect differences in tiller population growth as a function of garden or ecotype, emphasizing the need for long-term monitoring.
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spelling doaj-art-54a2a01ac60042ce89a710982d22ad402025-08-22T21:37:29ZengCanadian Science PublishingArctic Science2368-74602025-08-0110.1139/as-2025-0006Reassessing Adaptational Lag in Eriophorum vaginatum: Short-Term Responses to Reciprocal Transplant and Passive Warming Experiments in Northern AlaskaJennifer Lynn Chandler0James B McGraw1Michael L Moody2Jianwu Tang3Janice Voltzow4Ned Fetcher5West Chester University of Pennsylvania, Biology, West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States, ;West Virginia University, Biology, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States;The University of Texas at El Paso, Biological Sciences, El Paso, Texas, United States;Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States;University of Scranton, Biology, Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States;Wilkes University, Institute for Environmental Science and Sustainability, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States;Previous Eriophorum vaginatum studies have detected adaptational lag in response to climate change. We revisited this concept through a short-term reciprocal transplant experiment combined with warming via open-top chambers (OTCs). We asked: 1) if population growth rates of different ecotypes responded differently to reciprocal transplant, 2) if home-site advantage existed, and 3) if an interaction of ecotype, transplant garden, and OTC treatment existed. We established three transplant gardens, two north of the Brooks Range (Toolik and Sagwon) and one south (Coldfoot); OTCs were deployed in northern gardens. We censused tillers in 2016 and 2017. Lefkovitch matrices were jackknifed using Yellow Taxi Analysis to quantify each tiller’s contribution to population growth rate, which were incorporated into nested ANOVAs. Of tussocks grown in ambient temperature, mean tiller population growth from different source ecotypes did not respond differently to transplant. Home site advantage was not observed among tillers not exposed to warming via OTC, which may indicate adaptational lag is occurring. Mean population growth rate of OTC-exposed tillers was higher at Toolik than Sagwon. This study’s short duration likely limited our ability to detect differences in tiller population growth as a function of garden or ecotype, emphasizing the need for long-term monitoring.https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2025-0006
spellingShingle Jennifer Lynn Chandler
James B McGraw
Michael L Moody
Jianwu Tang
Janice Voltzow
Ned Fetcher
Reassessing Adaptational Lag in Eriophorum vaginatum: Short-Term Responses to Reciprocal Transplant and Passive Warming Experiments in Northern Alaska
Arctic Science
title Reassessing Adaptational Lag in Eriophorum vaginatum: Short-Term Responses to Reciprocal Transplant and Passive Warming Experiments in Northern Alaska
title_full Reassessing Adaptational Lag in Eriophorum vaginatum: Short-Term Responses to Reciprocal Transplant and Passive Warming Experiments in Northern Alaska
title_fullStr Reassessing Adaptational Lag in Eriophorum vaginatum: Short-Term Responses to Reciprocal Transplant and Passive Warming Experiments in Northern Alaska
title_full_unstemmed Reassessing Adaptational Lag in Eriophorum vaginatum: Short-Term Responses to Reciprocal Transplant and Passive Warming Experiments in Northern Alaska
title_short Reassessing Adaptational Lag in Eriophorum vaginatum: Short-Term Responses to Reciprocal Transplant and Passive Warming Experiments in Northern Alaska
title_sort reassessing adaptational lag in eriophorum vaginatum short term responses to reciprocal transplant and passive warming experiments in northern alaska
url https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2025-0006
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