Adaptive Genomic Variation Across Sub-Alpine Climates in a Keystone Forest Tree: Implications for Seed Sourcing for Restoration in a Changing Climate.
- 1Applied Biosciences Macquarie University Macquarie Park New South Wales Australia.
- 2School of Science Edith Cowan University Joondalup WA Australia.
- 3Greening Australia, Native Seed Centre for Restoration Western Sydney University Richmond New South Wales Australia.
Abstract
A major challenge for ecological restoration is seed sourcing decisions that ensure that restored populations have the adaptive variation for current and future environments. This is increasingly important for alpine and sub-alpine communities where climate change is predicted to be rapid and drive shifts in selective pressures. Selecting source populations representing future climates is an evolutionary-based strategy for increasing adaptive capacity, but requires an understanding of population genetic structure, identification of putatively adaptive genomic variation and an assessment of how these change across the landscape. Using 3978 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers we assessed the population structure and diversity of 33 sampled populations of Eucalyptus delegatensis from across its distribution, including 22 populations from the mainland (E. delegatensis subsp. delegatensis) and 11 from Tasmania (E. delegatensis subsp. tasmaniensis). Genotype-environment association (GEA) analysis identified strong genetic associations with seasonal climate variables, particularly minimum temperature of the coldest month, and revealed a parallel cline at one outlier locus across the mainland and Tasmanian range, consistent with independent sorting of standing variation along environmental gradients in both subspecies. By projecting genetic offset under future climate change scenarios, we identify regions of the species' range most vulnerable to projected change; despite this, seed-sourcing projections suggest that suitable future climate matches may be available for most of the range. Together, these findings demonstrate the value of comparative GEA approaches in validating outlier loci, and show that even in regions of projected dramatic environmental shifts, such as Australian alpine environments, landscape genomic analyses can help identify potential suitable seed sources for climate-resilient ecological restoration.
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BibTeX
@article{whale2026adaptive,
title = {{Adaptive Genomic Variation Across Sub-Alpine Climates in a Keystone Forest Tree: Implications for Seed Sourcing for Restoration in a Changing Climate.}},
author = {John W Whale and Katarina C Stuart and Jessica Bruce and Melinda Pickup and David L Field},
journal = {Evolutionary applications},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1111/eva.70339},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999716},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Adaptive Genomic Variation Across Sub-Alpine Climates in a Keystone Forest Tree: Implications for Seed Sourcing for Restoration in a Changing Climate.
AU - John W Whale
AU - Katarina C Stuart
AU - Jessica Bruce
AU - Melinda Pickup
AU - David L Field
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
JO - Evolutionary applications
DO - 10.1111/eva.70339
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999716
AB - A major challenge for ecological restoration is seed sourcing decisions that ensure that restored populations have the adaptive variation for current and future environments. This is increasingly important for alpine and sub-alpine communities where climate change is predicted to be rapid and drive shifts in selective pressures. Selecting source populations representing future climates is an evolutionary-based strategy for increasing adaptive capacity, but requires an understanding of population genetic structure, identification of putatively adaptive genomic variation and an assessment of how these change across the landscape. Using 3978 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers we assessed the population structure and diversity of 33 sampled populations of Eucalyptus delegatensis from across its distribution, including 22 populations from the mainland (E. delegatensis subsp. delegatensis) and 11 from Tasmania (E. delegatensis subsp. tasmaniensis). Genotype-environment association (GEA) analysis identified strong genetic associations with seasonal climate variables, particularly minimum temperature of the coldest month, and revealed a parallel cline at one outlier locus across the mainland and Tasmanian range, consistent with independent sorting of standing variation along environmental gradients in both subspecies. By projecting genetic offset under future climate change scenarios, we identify regions of the species' range most vulnerable to projected change; despite this, seed-sourcing projections suggest that suitable future climate matches may be available for most of the range. Together, these findings demonstrate the value of comparative GEA approaches in validating outlier loci, and show that even in regions of projected dramatic environmental shifts, such as Australian alpine environments, landscape genomic analyses can help identify potential suitable seed sources for climate-resilient ecological restoration.
SN - 1752-4571
ER -