Long generation times have been suggested to hamper rapid genetic adaptation of organisms to changing environmental conditions. We examined if environmental memory of the parental Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) drive offspring survival and growth. We used seeds from trees growing under naturally dry conditions (control), irrigated trees (irrigated from 2003 to 2016), and formerly irrigated trees ("irrigation stop"; irrigated from 2003-2013; control condition since 2014). We performed two experiments, one under controlled greenhouse conditions and one at the experimental field site. In the greenhouse, the offspring from control trees exposed regularly to drought were more tolerant to hot-drought conditions than the offspring from irrigated trees and showed lower mortality even though there was no genetic difference. However, under optimal conditions (high water supply and full sunlight), these offspring showed lower growth and were outperformed by the offspring of the irrigated trees. This different offspring growth, with the offspring of the "irrigation-stop" trees showing intermediate responses, points to the important role of transgenerational memory for the long-term acclimation of trees. Such memory effects, however, may be overridden by climatic extremes during germination and early growth stages such as the European 2018 mega-drought that impacted our field experiment.

中文翻译：

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世代相传的环境条件记忆会影响苏格兰松树的适应能力。

已经提出了较长的世代时间阻碍了生物体对遗传环境的快速遗传适应。我们检查了亲代苏格兰松树（Pinus sylvestris L.）的环境记忆是否驱动后代的生存和生长。我们使用了在自然干燥条件下（对照），灌溉树（2003年至2016年灌溉）和以前灌溉树（“灌溉停止”； 2003年至2013年灌溉；自2014年以来为对照条件）生长的树木的种子。我们进行了两个实验，一个在受控温室条件下进行，另一个在实验现场进行。在温室中，与干旱树相比，定期暴露于干旱的对照树的后代对热干旱条件的耐受性更高，即使没有遗传差异，死亡率也较低。然而，在最佳条件下（高水供应和充足的阳光），这些后代的生长速度较慢，并且在灌溉树的后代中表现出色。这种不同的后代生长，“灌溉停止”树的后代表现出中间响应，这表明跨代记忆对于树的长期适应具有重要作用。但是，这种记忆效应可能在发芽和早期生长阶段被极端气候所覆盖，例如影响我们实地试验的欧洲2018年特大干旱。指出了跨代记忆对于树木的长期驯化的重要作用。但是，这种记忆效应可能在发芽和早期生长阶段被极端气候所覆盖，例如影响我们实地试验的欧洲2018年特大干旱。指出了跨代记忆对于树木的长期驯化的重要作用。但是，这种记忆效应可能在发芽和早期生长阶段被极端气候所覆盖，例如影响我们实地试验的欧洲2018年特大干旱。