Data from: Translocation of an arctic seashore plant reveals signs of maladaptation to altered climatic conditions ...

• Main Authors: Hällfors, Maria, Lehvävirta, Susanna, Aandahl, Tone, Lehtimäki, Iida-Maria, Nilsson, Lars Ola, Ruotsalainen, Anna-Liisa, Schulman, Leif, Hyvärinen, Marko
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2020
• Subjects: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences; botanic garden; Siberian primrose; Transplant experiment; Arctic; White Sea; Norway; Kreivi; Climate change; Fennoscandian
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3n5tb2rfk; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.3n5tb2rfk

Ongoing anthropogenic climate change alters the local climatic conditions to which species may be adapted. Information on species’ climatic requirements and their intraspecific variation is necessary for predicting the effects of climate change on biodiversity. We used a climatic gradient to test whether populations of two allopatric varieties of an arctic seashore herb (Primula nutans ssp. finmarchica) show adaptation to their local climates and how a future warmer climate may affect them. Our experimental set-up combined a reciprocal translocation within the distribution range of the species with an experiment testing the performance of the sampled populations in warmer climatic conditions south of their range. We monitored survival, size, and flowering over four growing seasons as measures of performance and, thus, proxies of fitness. We found that both varieties performed better in experimental gardens towards the north. Interestingly, highest up in the north, the southern variety outperformed the ... : Study species and seed sampling Siberian primrose (Primula nutans) is a small-statured perennial herb with a discontinuous, circumpolar distribution. The Fennoscandian subspecies P. nutans ssp. finmarchica (Jacq.) Á. Löve & D. Löve is a red-listed species (VU in Norway and NT in Finland with a disjunct distribution (Fig. 1). It comprises two morpho-ecological varieties (Mäkinen & Mäkinen, 1964): var. finmarchica (the northern variety) grows on the shores of the Arctic Sea, while var. jokelae (the southern variety) occurs by the Bothnian Bay and the White Sea. It is a habitat specialist that mainly grows in seashore and riverside meadows (Kreivi, Aspi, & Leskinen, 2011; Mäkinen & Mäkinen, 1964). The habitat preference of the Siberian primrose is believed not to be affected by specific habitat requirements - it is neither a halophyte nor does it require regular flooding (Mäkinen & Mäkinen 1964). Rather, its occurrence in these habitats is likely due to its poor ability to compete in ...