Study Data Set
Two hundred and twenty two genotypes of A. thaliana were planted
in 4 European field sites scattered over 3 seasons in 2006 and 2007 for
a total of 7 plantings (Table S1, Appendix S1), as described in Wilczek
et al. (2009, 2014). Across the 7 plantings, 5623 plants were phenotyped
for a phenological trait (days-to-bolting, DTB) which marks the
transition from vegetative to reproductive phase (Pouteau & Albertini,
2009) and a fitness trait (seed proxy, SP; number of siliques per plant
x average length of 5 representative siliques from the plant in mm). All
genotypes were present in more than one planting, although no planting
contained all genotypes.
The time to bolting is regulated by environmental and genetic factors
(Amasino, 2010; Koornneef et al., 1998; Sasaki et al., 2015) and
influences reproductive success (Korves et al., 2007). SP measures
reproductive output and was weakly correlated with DTB (Pearson’s ρ=
0.058), justifying the construction of separate models. Both traits were
chosen due to their relevance for revegetation. SP is a reproductive
trait that provides a straightforward component of plant fitness, which
revegetation efforts would aim to maximise. Beyond its relevance to
reproductive success, a phenological trait like DTB may be relevant to
land managers for other purposes. For example, managers may want to
introduce plants with phenologies that align with the feeding
requirements of specific animals or that can restore lost ecosystem
services (Buisson et al., 2017).