The climate gradient in the southeast Mediterranean region offers an opportunity to associate local conditions with adaptive inter-population phenotypic variability. In a common garden experiment, we monitored flowering time and plant biomass in Sarcopoterium spinosum (Rosaceae) representing plant populations along an aridity gradient that in nature differ according to two environmental parameters: elevation and temperature regime. As a significant correlation was found between elevation and the average winter and summer temperatures at the natural sites, elevation was used in the analysis as a proxy for annual temperature regimes. A significant positive correlation was found between flowering day and annual rainfall and elevation, as well as between the aboveground plant biomass and annual rainfall. In addition, a significant negative correlation was found between the flowering day coefficient of variation and the two environmental parameters. Our results show inter-population differentiation in a perennial species, emphasizing the ecological importance of early flowering and trade-offs between growth and reproduction in arid vs. mesic environments.

地中海东南部的气候梯度提供了将当地条件与适应性种群间表型变异性联系起来的机会。在一个常见的花园实验中，我们监测了刺藻的开花时间和植物生物量（蔷薇科）代表沿干旱梯度的植物种群，其自然根据两个环境参数而不同：海拔和温度状况。由于发现了海拔与自然地点的冬季和夏季平均温度之间的显着相关性，因此在分析中使用海拔作为年度温度方案的代表。发现开花日与年降雨量和海拔之间以及地上植物生物量与年降雨量之间存在显着的正相关。此外，发现开花日变异系数与两个环境参数之间存在显着的负相关。我们的结果显示多年生物种在种群间的分化，