Climate-Induced Genomic Selection: Genetic Structure Variation of <i>Cornus kousa</i> subsp. <i>chinensis</i> and Its Adaptive Reaction to Future Climate Change

Global climate change exerts a far-reaching influence on the geographical distribution, phenological patterns, and genetic diversity of plants, presenting a grave challenge to the survival and evolution of species. Owing to its robust ecological adaptability, restricted dispersal capacity, and abundant intraspecific variation, <i>Cornus kousa</i> subsp. <i>chinensis</i> has emerged as an ideal subject for investigating the responses of woody plants to climate change. Consequently, this study employed the landscape genomics approach to evaluate the survival risks faced by <i>C. kousa</i> under the present and future (2060-2080) climate scenarios (RCP45 and RCP85). A total of 348 leaf samples were gathered from 25 populations of <i>C. kousa</i> spanning diverse regions of China. The research revealed that, under the prevailing climate conditions, the genetic diversity within the populations is remarkably abundant. Nevertheless, the POPs model forecasts that the genetic structure will undergo substantial alterations in future climate scenarios. Notably, 93.6% of the populations will be grouped into a solitary common cluster, and the genetic variation will be conspicuously homogenized. Through BayeScan and Latent Factor Mixed Model (LFMM) analyses, 67 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) loci significantly associated with climate factors were identified. Among these loci, 90.3% are closely correlated with the annual mean temperature (Bio 1), suggesting that temperature serves as the primary driving force for adaptive selection at the genomic level. In summary, our findings not only offer valuable perspectives for the conservation of the genetic resources of the <i>C. kousa</i> population but also provide significant reference value for the formulation of subtropical forest conservation strategies.