Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/j.baae.2011.06.001
Title (Primary) Land-use effects on genetic structure of a common grassland herb: a matter of scale
Author Kloss, L.; Fischer, M.; Durka, W. ORCID logo
Source Titel Basic and Applied Ecology
Year 2011
Department BZF
Volume 12
Issue 5
Page From 440
Page To 448
Language englisch
Keywords Biodiversity exploratories; Mowing; Grazing; AFLP; Veronica; Breeding system; Pollination experiment; Pollen–ovule ratio; Isolation by distance; Spatial autocorrelation Article Outline
Abstract

The most common management practices in European grasslands are grazing by livestock and mowing for silage and hay. Grazing and mowing differ in their potential effects on plant gene flow and resulting population–genetic structure. After assessing its breeding system, we investigated the effect of land use on the population–genetic structure in the common grassland plant Veronica chamaedrys using 63 study populations on meadows, mown pastures and pastures in three regions in Germany, the so-called Biodiversity Exploratories. We determined plant density and analysed the genetic diversity, differentiation and small-scale genetic structure using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. The breeding system of V. chamaedrys turned out as self-incompatible and outcrossing. Its genetic diversity did not differ among land-use types. This may be attributed to large population sizes and the strong dispersal ability of the species, which maintains genetically diverse populations not prone to genetic drift. Genetic differentiation among populations was low (overall FST = 0.075) but significant among the three regions. Land use had only weak effects on population differentiation in only one region. However, land use affected small-scale genetic structure suggesting that gene flow within plots was more restricted on meadows than on mown and unmown pastures. Our study shows that land use influences genetic structure mainly at the small scale within populations, despite high gene flow.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=11455
Kloss, L., Fischer, M., Durka, W. (2011):
Land-use effects on genetic structure of a common grassland herb: a matter of scale
Basic Appl. Ecol. 12 (5), 440 - 448 10.1016/j.baae.2011.06.001