Populations of aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) with different evolutionary histories differ in their climate occupancy

Abstract

Quaking aspens (Populus tremuloides Michx.) are found in diverse habitats throughout North America. While the biogeography of aspens' distribution has been documented, the drivers of the phenotypic diversity of aspen are still being explored. In our study, we examined differences in climate between northern and southwestern populations of aspen, finding large-scale differences between the populations. Our results suggest that northern and southwestern populations live in distinct climates and support the inclusion of genetic and phenotypic data with species distribution modeling for predicting aspens' distribution.