36-year study reveals stability of a wild wheat population across microhabitats

Study overview

Long-term studies of wild populations are rare but valuable for connecting ecological and population-genetics models. This study genotyped 832 individuals sampled at high spatial resolution from a wild wheat population over 36 years, finding that genotypes clustered into ecological microhabitats at scales of tens of metres, and that this clustering remained remarkably stable across 36 generations. A common-garden experiment - in which a Vibe QM3 seed analyzer was used to measure seed characteristics - showed that genotypes from distinct microhabitats differ phenotypically. Simulations indicated that neutral processes alone cannot explain the observed spatial and temporal stability, pointing to a role for fine-scale local adaptation.