Population genetics of dwarf eelgrass Zostera nolti throughout its biogeographic range

The marine angiosperm Zostera noltii (dwarf eelgrass), an important facilitator species and food source for invertebrates and waterfowl, predominantly inhabits intertidal habitats along eastern Atlantic shores from Mauritania to southern Norway/Kattegat Sea and throughout the Mediterranean, Black an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Ecology Progress Series
Main Authors: Coyer, JA, Diekmann, OE, Serrao, EA, Procaccini, G, Milchakova, N, Pearson, GA, Stam, WT, Olsen, JL
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2004
Subjects:
seagrasses
Zostera noltii
genetic structure
clonality
genets
ramets
ice age
microsatellites
phylogeography
INTERTIDAL SEAGRASS BEDS
DUTCH WADDEN SEA
POSIDONIA-OCEANICA
POSTGLACIAL COLONIZATION
BALTIC SEA
HYDROPHILOUS ANGIOSPERMS
SEASONAL-VARIATION
MARINE ANGIOSPERM
NORTH-ATLANTIC
F-STATISTICS
Norway
Kattegat
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11370/2f20a9bc-6b66-4a5e-8f98-138a01a1e47b
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/2f20a9bc-6b66-4a5e-8f98-138a01a1e47b
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps281051
https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/62522444/Population_genetics_of_dwarf_eelgrass_Zostera_noltii_throughout_its_biogeographic_range.pdf
Description
Summary:The marine angiosperm Zostera noltii (dwarf eelgrass), an important facilitator species and food source for invertebrates and waterfowl, predominantly inhabits intertidal habitats along eastern Atlantic shores from Mauritania to southern Norway/Kattegat Sea and throughout the Mediterranean, Black and Azov seas. We used 9 microsatellite loci to characterize population structure at a variety of spatial scales among 33 populations from 11 localities throughout the entire biogeographic range. Isolation by distance analysis suggested a panmictic genetic neighborhood of 100 to 150 km. At the global scale, a neighbor-joining tree based on Reynolds distances revealed strongly-supported groups corresponding to northern Europe, Mauritania and the Black/Azov Sea; separate Mediterranean and Atlantic-Iberian groups were poorly supported. Clones (genets with multiple ramets) were present in most populations but were generally small (ca. <3 m(2)). Exceptions were found in Mauritania (ca. 29 m in length), the Azov Sea (ca. 40 m in length) and the Black Sea (ca. 50 m in length). Although genetic diversity and allelic richness generally decreased from Mauritania to Denmark, the putative post-glacial recolonization route, both were unexpectedly high among populations from the German Wadden Sea.

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