Conservation genetics and phylogeography of endangered boreoarctic seashore plant species

• Main Author: Kreivi, M. (Marjut)
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Oulu 2009
• Subjects: AFLP; Primula sibirica group; conservation genetics; genetic diversity; microsatellite; phylogeography; population structure; seashore meadow; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Arctophila fulva
• Online Access: http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:9789514290190

Abstract The amount and distribution of genetic diversity are likely to affect the evolutionary potential of a species. When feasible and cost-effective policies for management and monitoring of endangered populations or species are planned, knowledge of the spatial genetic structure and the type of population dynamics is of great concern. In this thesis the genetic diversity and population structures of two endangered arctic plant species was examined on different geographical scales in Northern Europe. The species were Siberian primrose (Primula nutans) and pendant grass (Arctophila fulva), which both grow in a seashore habitat and have similar distribution patterns on the shores of the Arctic Ocean and the Bothnian Bay. The goal of the present study was to provide basic population genetic information for the study species using microsatellite and AFLP markers. Both markers were used for the first time in these species, and species-specific microsatellite markers were developed during the study. A further aim was to interlink the population genetic processes of the species into distribution patterns at the regional and population levels and to compile a synthesis of the impact of hierarchical spatiotemporal processes and autocorrelation in genetic variation at different levels. The studies of this thesis provided new information on the diversity and population structure of the endangered study species and new markers that are useful in future genetic studies of primrose species. The diversity of Siberian primrose was low, and there was no dispersal between the study regions. In pendant grass, a relatively high amount of variation was found considering the evident clonal reproduction and gene flow that was detected between populations connected by waterways. The results suggested that both clonal and sexual reproduction are important in this species. On a local scale, pendant grass populations had characteristics of “stepping stone” and classical metapopulation models. The results indicated that on a long time ...