Cryptic local adaptation is pervasive across environmental and evolutionary gradients

Abstract

AbstractCryptic local adaptation—where an environmental effect masks the magnitude of the genetic contribution to a phenotype—has long been a topic of interest in ecology and evolution. Here, we systematically document the magnitude and drivers of two common forms of cryptic local adaptation—counter- and cogradient variation. Using a hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis, we calculated the overall effect size as 1.03 for countergradient variation and 0.90 for cogradient variation. This result indicates that the genetic effect of cryptic local adaptation is approximately equal to a one standard deviation change in trait value between the most disparate populations. We also found that the abiotic and biotic covariates with the largest mean effects were temperature (2.50) and gamete size (2.78), although there was substantial variance. Our results demonstrate the pervasiveness and large effect of cryptic local adaptation in wild populations and underscores the importance of accounting for these effects in future studies.