Population genetic structure is shaped by historical, geographic, and environmental factors in the leguminous shrub Caragana microphylla on the Inner Mongolia Plateau of China

BMC Plant Biology

Research Article

Ian J. Wang¹  Jingwei Lu²  Guoli Sun²  Xuemin Wang²  Zan Wang²  Bo Xu³ 

[1] Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA;Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 100193, Beijing, China;Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 100193, Beijing, China;Animal Science and Technology College, Jilin Agricultural University, 130118, Changchun, China;

关键词: Ecological niche;    Isolation by distance;    Isolation by environment;    Plant ecology;    Population genetic structure;    Restoration ecology;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-017-1147-7

 received in 2017-03-15, accepted in 2017-10-31,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundUnderstanding how landscape factors, including suites of geographic and environmental variables, and both historical and contemporary ecological and evolutionary processes shape the distribution of genetic diversity is a primary goal of landscape and conservation genetics and may be particularly consequential for species involved in ecological restoration. In this study, we examine the factors that shape the distribution of genetic variation in a leguminous shrub (Caragana microphylla) important for restoration efforts on the Mongolian Plateau in China. This region houses several major bioclimatic gradients, and C. microphylla is an important restoration species because it stabilizes soils and prevents advancing desertification on the Inner Mongolia Plateau caused by ongoing climate change.ResultsWe assembled an expansive genomic dataset, consisting of 22 microsatellite loci, four cpDNA regions, and 5788 genome-wide SNPs from ten populations of C. microphylla. We then applied ecological niche modelling and linear and non-linear regression techniques to investigate the historical and contemporary forces that explain patterns of genetic diversity and population structure in C. microphylla on the Inner Mongolia Plateau. We found strong evidence that both geographic and environmental heterogeneity contribute to genetic differentiation and that the spatial distribution of genetic diversity in C. microphylla appears to result partly from the presence of a glacial refugium at the southwestern edge of its current range.ConclusionsThese results suggest that geographic, environmental, and historical factors have all contributed to spatial genetic variation in this ecologically important species. These results should guide restoration plans to sustain genetic diversity during plant translocations.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017