Phenotypic variation along urban-to-rural gradients - an attempt to disentangle the mechanisms at play using the alien species Matricaria discoidea (Asteraceae)

Aug 25, 2026

Cities often exhibit higher temperatures, drier soils, and stronger habitat fragmentation than rural areas, creating potentially constraining environments for plant growth. Environmental conditions along urban-to-rural gradients can generate phenotypic plasticity in traits linked to fitness, such as germination timing and flowering. Trait differences may also reflect environmental maternal effects arising from conditions experienced by mother plants. Because alien species frequently show high urban density and diversity, disentangling these sources of variation is essential, yet remains poorly studied. This work addresses that gap using a simulated reciprocal common garden approach with Matricaria discoidea.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

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Abstract

Introduction

This item is the archived peer-reviewed author-version of: Phenotypic variation along urban-to-rural gradients : an attempt to disentangle the mechanisms at play using the alien species **Matricaria discoidea** (Asteraceae) Reference: Géron Charly, Lembrechts Jonas, Hamdi Rafiq, Berckmans Julie, Nijs Ivan, Monty Arnaud.-Phenotypic variation along urban-to-rural gradients : an attempt to disentangle the mechanisms at play using the alien species **Matricaria discoidea** (Asteraceae) Plant ecology- ISSN 1573-5052-Dordrecht, Springer, 223(2022), p. 1219-1231 Full text (Publisher's DOI): [https://doi.org/10.1007/S11258-022-01269-Y](https://doi.org/10.1007/S11258-022-01269-Y) To cite this reference: [https://hdl.handle.net/10067/1913970151162165141](https://hdl.handle.net/10067/1913970151162165141) Institutional repository IRUA 1 Phenotypic variation along urban-to-rural gradients: an attempt to disentangle 2 the mechanisms at play using the alien species Matricaria discoidea (Asteraceae) 3 Géron, Charlya, b*, Lembrechts, Jonas J.b, Hamdi, Rafiqc,d, Berckmans, Juliee, Nijs, Ivanb and Monty, Arnauda 4 a Biodiversity and Landscape, TERRA research centre, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Gembloux, 5030, 5 Belgium 6 bPlants and Ecosystems, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium 7 c Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Ghent, Ghent, 9000, Belgium 8 dRoyal Meteorological Institute, Brussels, 1180, Belgium 9 eClimawise, Solvynsstraat 37, Antwerp, 2018, Belgium 10 *Corresponding author: Charly Géron, [charly.geron@gmail.com](charly.geron@gmail.com), 0032 (0)81 62 2546, ORCID id: 0000-0001-7912- 11 4708 12 E-mail addresses: 13 Géron, Charly: [charly.geron@gmail.com](charly.geron@gmail.com) 14 Lembrechts, [Jonas J. : jonas.lembrechts@uantwerpen.be](Jonas J. : jonas.lembrechts@uantwerpen.be) 15 Hamdi, Rafiq: [rafiq.hamdi@meteo.be](rafiq.hamdi@meteo.be) 16 Berckmans, Julie: [julie.berckmans@gmail.com](julie.berckmans@gmail.com) 17 Nijs, Ivan: [ivan. nijs@uantwerpen.be](ivan. nijs@uantwerpen.be) 18 Monty, Arnaud: [arnaud. monty@uliege.be](arnaud. monty@uliege.be) 31 urbanization gradients in Belgium. These seeds were sown in growth chambers to study how germination, 32 growth, and flowering traits of the alien species Matricaria discoidea vary in response to temperature 33 (rural or urban) and soil (rural or urban) treatments and the urbanity (percentage of impervious surfaces) 34 of its source population. We found predominant effects of seed mass and germination delay which 35 materialized important environmental maternal effects. We observed a higher germination success and 36 delay for heavier seeds, and a greater number of capitula and dry biomass for plants that germinated 37 earlier. Climate and soil treatments led to plasticity in the majority of the measured traits, with a faster 38 germination and heavier plants in the urban temperature treatment but lighter plants in the urban soil 39 treatment. Our results therefore support the existence of predominant environmental maternal effects 40 and phenotypic plasticity in response to temperature and soil treatments, but no visible evidence of local 41 adaptation. 42 Keywords: Urbanization, Alien plants, Environmental maternal effects, Simulated reciprocal garden, Local 43 adaptation 19 Abstract 20 Cities often exhibit higher temperatures, drier soils and greater habitat fragmentation than rural areas, 21 and may thus represent constraining growing environments for plants. This variety of environmental 22 conditions along urban-to-rural gradients might lead to plasticity in plant traits. Urban conditions could 23 affect plant traits such as germination or flower number – key variables for organismal fitness. These 24 proxies of fitness could then potentially experience strong selection in urban environments. Trait 25 variations among individuals are not only due to genotype or

FAQs

城市环境如何影响植物性状？

城市环境通常更高温、更干燥且栖息地破碎更严重，这些因素可能对植物的萌发、花数量等与适合度相关的性状产生限制，并促发性状可塑性。

论文关注的性状差异来源有哪些？

性状差异不仅来自基因型或当前环境条件，还可能来自母体在发育过程中所经历的环境，即环境母体效应。

使用了什么实验方法来研究Matricaria discoidea的性状变异？

研究采用模拟的互惠普通园（simulated reciprocal common garden）实验设计，沿城市—乡村梯度布设种子来源群体，并在温度与土壤处理下评估萌发、生长与开花相关性状。

Aug 25, 2026

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