The Multiple Roles of Genetics on Freshwater Macrophyte Functional Traits in the Interplay With the Environment: A Review

Abstract

The study of functional trait variation is increasingly used to understand macrophyte adaptation, as traits reflect organismal performance under different ecosystem conditions. Phenotypic expression results from the interplay of genetic and environmental factors: genetics provides the molecular basis for heritable traits and constrains potential phenotypes, while the environment acts as a selective and modulatory force. However, the genetic insight into traits has rarely been addressed in freshwater macrophyte studies. This review examines the different ways in which the DNA of macrophytes interplays with the environment and contributes to the variation in their functional traits, outlining main approaches, gaps, and future challenges. Only 21 studies explicitly combined genetics with functional traits and environment in the last fifteen years. The most common approach was the use of common garden experiments to explore acclimation and adaptation in a few model species. Current studies mainly focus on morphological and growth traits that best describe macrophytes' economic strategies, with limited attention to other trait categories, while the genetic and DNA traits studied are more variable. Across studies, environmental factors generally explained a larger proportion of functional trait variation, highlighting the dominant role of phenotypic plasticity for macrophyte acclimatation, whereas genetic contribution increased under experimentally manipulated conditions. Genome size and epigenetic variation influenced phenotypic plasticity; however, the effect was different and inconsistent on traits and depended on phylogenetic relationships and geographical environment variation. In field studies of natural populations, life history traits and hydrology had a strong effect on the geographic distribution of genetic diversity and the response to selection, as well as on our ability to distinguish selection from genetic drift.