DOI: 10.5061/dryad.34tmpg4s9
title: Data from: Testing the evolutionary potential of an alpine plant: Phenotypic plasticity in response to growth temperature outweighs parental environmental effects and other genetic causes of variation

description: Phenotypic plasticity and rapid evolution are fundamental processes by
 which organisms can maintain their function and fitness in the face of
 environmental changes. Here we quantified the plasticity and evolutionary
 potential of an alpine herb Wahlenbergia ceracea. Utilising its
 mixed-mating system, we generated outcrossed and self-pollinated families
 that were grown in either cool or warm environments, and that had parents
 that had also been grown in either cool or warm environments. We then
 analysed the contribution of environmental and genetic factors to
 variation in a range of phenotypic traits including phenology, leaf mass
 per area, photosynthetic function, thermal tolerance, and reproductive
 fitness. The strongest effect was that of current growth temperature,
 indicating strong phenotypic plasticity. All traits except thermal
 tolerance were plastic, whereby warm-grown plants flowered earlier, grew
 larger, produced more reproductive stems compared to cool-grown plants.
 Flowering onset and biomass were heritable and under selection, with early
 flowering and larger plants having higher relative fitness. There was
 little evidence for transgenerational plasticity, maternal effects, or
 genotype-by-environment interactions. Inbreeding delayed flowering and
 reduced reproductive fitness and biomass. Overall, we found that W.
 ceracea has the capacity to respond rapidly to climate warming via
 plasticity, and the potential for evolutionary change.
description: Dataset was collected from a large glasshouse experiment of
 <em>Wahlenbergia ceracea</em> (waxy bluebell) plants grown
 under two growth temperatures. This experiment follows on from years of
 controlled environment and controlled crosses to generate
 F<sub>3</sub> lines, including growing the
 F<sub>2</sub> parents under two growth temperatures as well.
 Phenotypic trait measurements were taken using a variety of standard
 ecophysiological measurements, and these include measuring flowering onset
 phenology, chlorophyll content (SPAD units), Leaf Mass per Area (LMA),
 photosystem II efficiency and capacity
 (<em>F</em><sub>V</sub>/<em>F</em><sub>M</sub>, φPSII), heat and cold tolerance (<em>T</em><sub>crit-hot</sub> and <em>T</em><sub>crit-cold</sub> from temperature dependent chlorophyll fluorscence; <em>T-F</em><sub>0</sub>), biomass, numbers of reproductive stems, seed and capsule mass. Details are provided in full in the manuscript. Post-data collection processing of dataset .csv files were done using R v4.3.1. The R script used for data analyses, Tables, Figures, and supporting data is provided as part of the data archiving as an html Rmarkdown output.
description: # Data from: Testing the evolutionary potential of an alpine plant:
 Phenotypic plasticity in response to growth temperature outweighs parental
 environmental effects and other genetic causes of variation
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.34tmpg4s9](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.34tmpg4s9) Dataset contains data from a glasshouse experiment under different growth temperature treatments on over 1,000 F3 generation plants from controlled crosses and self-pollination of F2 parental plants that were also exposed to two temperature treatments. We collected data on multiple phenotypic traits of the F3 plants and analysed phenotypic plasticity, heritability, and selection on these data using Bayesian mixed models including additive genetic (pedigree) and maternal effects. ## Description of the data and file structure The data is contained in three datasheets in one .xlsx file: the main experiment dataset, pedigree, and capsule mass data. A key is provided to give explanation for the column names and variables included in these sheets. Note that NA values in the pedigree indicates simply that we do not know the relatedness information for the generation prior to the F0 plants. NA values in the main dataset represent individual plants that were not measured for the particular trait (due to not having 8 individuals for the F3 line, premature death, not flowering, or the hailstorm affecting harvest and trait measurements). Details of the experiment that led to these missing values are provided in the Open Access publication: [https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae290](https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae290). An Rmarkdown .html output file is also provided to demonstrate the R script used and includes the output of analyses, Tables, and Figures. ## Sharing/Access information Data will be linked to the published paper. ## Code/Software R code is provided in the .html file. R version 4.3.1. Loaded packages: devtools v2.4.5 brms v2.20.1 MCMCglmm v2.35 ggplot2 v3.4.4 ggpubr v0.6.0 sjPlot v2.8.15 dplyr v1.1.4 performance v0.10.4 scales v1.3.0