Weeds represent a major cause of agricultural losses worldwide. Most weeds
share a common set of life history characteristics that predispose them to
weediness, two of which are self-compatibility, which allows for ease of
colonization through reproductive assurance, and high trait plasticity,
which allows for tolerance of a wide variety of environments and abiotic
conditions. However, self-fertilization typically comes at the cost of
inbreeding depression. This study investigates the role of inbreeding
depression and trait plasticity under abiotic stress in the tall
morningglory, a widespread self-compatible agricultural weed in the
southeastern United States. Results show very little inbreeding depression
in this species, likely due to purging of deleterious alleles through
repeated founder events in agricultural landscapes. In contrast, abiotic
stress induced substantial plasticity in ecophysiological traits,
reproductive traits, and biomass allocation. In terms of performance,
drought sharply impacted reproduction but not vegetative growth, and
nitrogen limitation sharply impacted both. These findings are applicable to
the control of weedy morningglory and underscore the usefulness of
evolutionary ecology to weed management.