Gene Flow within and between Catchments in the Threatened Riparian Plant Myricaria germanica
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Date
2014-06-16Type
- Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
One of the major distinctions of riparian habitats is their linearity. In linear habitats, gene flow is predicted to follow a one-dimensional stepping stone model, characterized by bidirectional gene flow between neighboring populations. Here, we studied the genetic structure of Myricaria germanica, a threatened riparian shrub which is capable of both wind and water dispersal. Our data led us to reject the ‘one catchment – one gene pool’ hypothesis as we found support for two gene pools, rather than four as expected in a study area including four catchments. This result also implies that in the history of the studied populations, dispersal across catchments has occurred. Two contemporary catchment-crossing migration events were detected, albeit between spatially proximate catchments. Allelic richness and inbreeding coefficients differed substantially between gene pools. There was significant isolation by distance, and our data confirmed the one-dimensional stepping-stone model of gene flow. Contemporary migration was bidirectional within the studied catchments, implying that dispersal vectors other than water are important for M. germanica. Show more
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https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000086706Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
PLoS ONEVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
PLOSRelated publications and datasets
Is referenced by: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103669
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ETH Bibliography
yes
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