Variation in phenology of Acacia senegal (L.) Wild. in relation to origin and ploidy level: Implications for climatic adaptation

作者：Oulimata Diatta, Adja Madjiguène Diallo, Diaminatou Sanogo, Lene Rostgaard Nielsen, Anders Ræbild, Erik Dahl Kjær, Jon Kehlet Hansen · 发表于：Global Ecology and Conservation · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01957 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Plant and animal studies、Species Distribution and Climate Change

Correct timing of phenology is crucial for the survival and growth of species in arid areas with long dry seasons. Nevertheless, knowledge on genetic variation and adaptive patterns in phenology in deciduous African dryland species is limited. Here we study the variation in phenology of diploid and polypoid A. senegal trees from rangewide populations growing in a common garden trial in Senegal and test correlations between population phenology and climate at the site of origin. The leafing, flowering and fruiting phenology was monitored during 17 months and compared to detailed observations of the rainfall in the common garden during the period. We found that A. senegal trees in general started development of leaves prior to the beginning of the rainy season with flowering and fruiting initiation occurring during the rainy season. The results lead us to conclude that is was not the rain per se that initiated leaf development. We also conclude that phenology in A. senegal is under genetic control, because significant differences could be observed among populations and ploidy levels when grown at the same site. In general, early leaf flushing trees had a longer growing period and performed better in terms of growth at the tested site and the results thus support that leaf phenology influence fitness. We further found that differences among trees in phenology seem to be associated with differences in climate at their site of origin, because the timing of leaf development in the ...