Genetic diversity of alpine <i>Dryas octopetala</i> populations at their southern distribution limit in Europe

Varsamis, Georgios; Merou, Theodora; Karapatzak, Eleftherios; Papageorgiou, Aristotelis C.; Fotiadis, G.; Tsiftsis, Spyros

doi:10.1111/njb.03150

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 52 publications

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“…The arctic-alpine species Dryas octopetala forms isolated populations in mountainous regions on northern Greece's southernmost edge of the species' distribution range. Studies by Varsamis et al (2021) aimed at evaluating genetic variation within three selected populations of the species and analyzing its overall genetic structure. The results indicated relatively low intrapopulation genetic diversity (mean value of H e = 0.156).…”

Section: Genetic Diversity and Differentiation Of Cerastium Alpinummentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic variation of Cerastium alpinum L. from Babia Góra, a critically endangered species in Poland

et al. 2022

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Babia Góra massif is the only site of occurrence of the Cerastium alpinum L. in Poland, an arctic-alpine perennial plant with a wide distribution in North America, northwestern Asia, and Europe. To determine whether the isolated Polish populations are genetically distinct, we have performed an evaluation of C. alpinum from Babia Góra with the use of iPBS markers. A total number of 133 individuals of C. alpinum from seven populations representing four localizations of the species were analyzed, i.e., from Babia Góra (Poland), Alps (Switzerland), Nuolja massif (Sweden), and Kaffiøyra (Svalbard, Norway). Genetic analysis of all C. alpinum samples using eight PBS primers identified 262 bands, 79.4% of which were polymorphic. iPBS markers revealed low genetic diversity (average He = 0.085) and high population differentiation (FST = 0.617). AMOVA results confirmed that the majority of the genetic variation (62%) was recorded among populations. The grouping revealed by PCoA showed that C. alpinum from Svalbard is the most diverged population, C. alpinum from Switzerland and Sweden form a pair of similar populations, whereas C. alpinum from the Babia Góra form a heterogeneous group of four populations. Results of isolation by distance analysis suggested that the spatial distance is the most probable cause of the observed differentiation among populations. Although significant traces of a bottleneck effect were noted for all populations of C. alpinum from Babia Góra, the populations still maintain a low but significant level of genetic polymorphism. These results are of great importance for developing conservation strategies for this species in Poland.

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Section: Genetic Diversity and Differentiation Of Cerastium Alpinummentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic variation of Cerastium alpinum L. from Babia Góra, a critically endangered species in Poland

et al. 2022

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Leaf shape and size variability of Dryas octopetala in the Central Great Caucasus (the Kazbegi region, Georgia) based on traditional and geometric morphometrics

Ekhvaia,

Abdaladze,

Jolokhava

et al. 2024

Bot Serb

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While soil pH is known to be a key driver of plant species composition, we still have a poor understanding of the quantification of the responses of leaf traits to different soil types, especially in highly sensitive alpine environments susceptible to global environmental changes. By combining traditional and modern geometric morphometrics we aimed to bridge the existing gap and determine whether certain leaf traits reliably separate evergreen Dryas octopetala populations residing in the subalpine-alpine zone of the Kazbegi region, in the eastern part of the Central Great Caucasus in Georgia. To achieve this aim, three populations of D. octopetala were analysed through traditional and, for the first time, modern geometric morphometrics. Both methods revealed congruent results indicating significant differences in leaf shape and size in locations with similar climatic conditions but different soil pH environments (acid vs neutral to slightly alkaline) thus suggesting that D. octopetala exhibits stronger leaf morphological plasticity (wider and larger leaves vs narrower and smaller leaves) to respond to changes in the soil pH gradient. In addition, modern geometric morphometrics, with its high degree of precision as an accessible and inexpensive method, could be advantageous for researchers and scientists seeking to gain a deeper understanding of plant species? unique responses to varying environmental conditions.

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Climate-Change Impacts on the Southernmost Mediterranean Arctic-Alpine Plant Populations

Kougioumoutzis

Kokkoris

Strid³

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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Human-induced climate- and land-use change have been affecting biogeographical and biodiversity patterns for the past two centuries all over the globe, resulting in increased extinction and biotic homogenization rates. High mountain ecosystems are more sensitive to these changes, which have led to physiological and phenological shifts, as well as to ecosystem processes’ deformation. Glacial relicts, such as arctic-alpine taxa, are sensitive indicators of the effects of global warming and their rear-edge populations could include warm-adapted genotypes that might prove—conservation-wise—useful in an era of unprecedented climate regimes. Despite the ongoing thermophilization in European and Mediterranean summits, it still remains unknown how past and future climate-change might affect the distributional patterns of the glacial relict, arctic-alpine taxa occurring in Greece, their European southernmost distributional limit. Using species distribution models, we investigated the impacts of past and future climate changes on the arctic-alpine taxa occurring in Greece and identified the areas comprising arctic-alpine biodiversity hotspots in Greece. Most of these species will be faced with severe range reductions in the near future, despite their innate resilience to a multitude of threats, while the species richness hotspots will experience both altitudinal and latitudinal shifts. Being long-lived perennials means that there might be an extinction-debt present in these taxa, and a prolonged stability phase could be masking the deleterious effects of climate change on them. Several ex situ conservation measures (e.g., seed collection, population augmentation) should be taken to preserve the southernmost populations of these rare arctic-alpine taxa and a better understanding of their population genetics is urgently needed.

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Genetic diversity of alpine Dryas octopetala populations at their southern distribution limit in Europe

Cited by 4 publications

References 52 publications

Genetic variation of Cerastium alpinum L. from Babia Góra, a critically endangered species in Poland

Genetic variation of Cerastium alpinum L. from Babia Góra, a critically endangered species in Poland

Leaf shape and size variability of Dryas octopetala in the Central Great Caucasus (the Kazbegi region, Georgia) based on traditional and geometric morphometrics

Climate-Change Impacts on the Southernmost Mediterranean Arctic-Alpine Plant Populations

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