![]() Here, we tested for a trade-off that may contribute range limit development in plants at low elevation range boundaries where multiple biotic environmental factors may be important, such as herbivory and competition (e.g., Ettinger et al. But what traits and underlying physiological and genetic mechanisms might be involved in such trade-offs and whether these constraints are important remain largely unknown (Etterson and Shaw 2001 Westoby and Wright 2006 Angert et al. ![]() However, even when these factors are conducive to adaptation, another set of factors associated with genetic architecture, including multiple interacting loci and pathways, may result in genetic, physiological, or developmental constraints (trade-offs) that impede adaptation and the evolution of range expansion (Kawecki 2008). Major factors that may prevent the process of adaptation across range boundaries include swamping gene flow from the center of the range, lack of genetic variation in range margin populations, lack of adequate time for adaptation, or dispersal barriers (Sexton et al. Consequently, adaptation may be required to occupy stressful areas across range boundaries. The importance of environmental factors to range limits comes partly from transplant studies, most of which show decreased performance across range boundaries (Sexton et al. We suggest that defense allocation, which is also needed across the range, may impede adaptation to the stress associated with the community change and thus contribute to range limit development.Ī central question in evolutionary ecology is what factors and processes contribute to the development of species range limits (Parmesan et al. ![]() stricta for tolerance to the stress however, lines with high basal levels of glucosinolate toxins had lower tolerance to the change in community structure. There was also significant genetic variation (evolutionary potential) among marker-inferred inbred lines of B. ![]() ![]() stricta plants, performance decreased and a multivariate axis of community structure increased across the boundary, indicating increased stress associated with the community change. Here, we determined whether an ecological cost of plant defense involving stress associated with changes in the local plant community may contribute to range limit development in the upland mustard species Boechera stricta. Because transplant experiments show that performance usually decreases across species range boundaries, some range limits might develop from factors and processes that prevent adaptation to stressful environments. ![]()
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