Genetic Diversity and Connectivity in Plant Species Differing in Clonality and Dispersal Mechanisms in Wetland Island Habitats

dispersal clonal growth metapopulation genetic divergence genetic diversity

Journal of Heredity. 112, 108-121.

Sissi Lozada-Gobilard , Christian Schwarzer , Rodney Dyer https://dyerlab.org , Ralph Tiedemann , Jasmin Joshi
2021-02-08
Figure 2: Genetic parameters of the analyzed populations of Oenanthe aquatica, Lycopus europaeus, Typha latifolia, and Phragmites australis. Genetic diversity measured as allelic richness.

In plants, long-distance dispersal is both attenuated and directed by specific movement vectors, including animals, wind, and/or water. Hence, movement vectors partly shape metapopulation genetic patterns that are, however, also influenced by other life-history traits such as clonal growth. We studied the relationship between area, isolation, plant-species richness, reproduction, and dispersal mechanisms with genetic diversity and divergence in 4 widespread wetland plant-species in a total of 20 island-like kettle-hole habitats surrounded by an intensive agricultural landscape. Our results showed that genetic parameters reflect the reproduction strategies with the highest genetic diversity being observed in the non-clonal, outcrossing Oenanthe aquatica compared to the clonal Lycopus europaeus, Typha latifolia, and Phragmites australis. Lycopus showed a positive relationship between genetic diversity and kettle-hole area, but a negative relationship with the number of neighboring kettle holes (less isolation). Genetic diversity increased with plant-species richness in the clonal species Phragmites and Lycopus; while it decreased in the non-clonal Oenanthe. Finally, genetic divergence and, therefore, connectivity differed between alternative dispersal strategies, where wind-dispersed Typha and Phragmites had a higher gene flow between the analyzed kettle holes compared with the insect-pollinated, hydrochorous Lycopus and Oenanthe. Our study provides information on genetic patterns related to reproduction and dispersal mechanisms of 4 common wetland species contributing to the understanding of the functioning of plant metacommunities occurring in kettle holes embedded in agricultural landscapes.

Citation

For attribution, please cite this work as

Lozada-Gobilard, et al., "The Dyer Laboratory: Genetic Diversity and Connectivity in Plant Species Differing in Clonality and Dispersal Mechanisms in Wetland Island Habitats", Journal of Heredity, 2021

BibTeX citation

@article{lozada-gobilard2021genetic,
  author = {Lozada-Gobilard, Sissi and Schwarzer, Christian and Dyer, Rodney and Tiedemann, Ralph and Joshi, Jasmin},
  title = {The Dyer Laboratory: Genetic Diversity and Connectivity in Plant Species Differing in Clonality and Dispersal Mechanisms in Wetland Island Habitats},
  journal = {Journal of Heredity},
  year = {2021},
  note = {https://dyerlab.github.io/DLabWebsite/manuscripts/lozada-gobilard-et-al-2021/},
  doi = {10.1093/jhered/esaa059},
  volume = {112}
}