Environmental and genetic constraints on adaptive population differentiation in Anthoxanthum odoratum

Maximum-likelihood estimates of environmental and broad sense genetic (co)variance components were obtained for the growth and reproductive output of clones of Anthoxanthum odoratum. The clones were transplanted between a mesic and a xeric field site and across-environment genetic correlations were used to estimate the strength of genotype-environment interaction. Significant across-environment clonal covariance matrices were found for several traits, including lifetime reproductive output in one population. None of the matrices differed significantly between populations. Significant within-site clonal variation was found, but there was no significant across-environment clonal covariation. Most broad sense heritability estimates of character states within sites were small (median 0.12), suggesting that only a slow response to selection is possible. All significant within-site clonal correlations between growth and reproductive output were positive, although the pattern of negative clonal correlations suggests that there may be a cost to first year reproduction, which might constrain future selection response. -Authors