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Structure and Function of Mountain Ecosystems in Japan pp 63–88Cite as

Plant Genetic Diversity and Plant–Pollinator Interactions Along Altitudinal Gradients

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Part of the book series: Ecological Research Monographs ((ECOLOGICAL))

Abstract

Alpine plants are thought to be particularly vulnerable to extinction as a result of global warming because their habitat ranges are expected to shift upward until, eventually, no higher habitats remain into which they can escape. Moreover, even mountain plants distributing across wide altitudinal ranges are likely to experience range shifts, raising the possibility of local extinctions, especially of genetically and ecologically differentiated types with narrow distribution ranges. In this chapter, we examine to what extent plants genetically and ecologically differentiate along altitude and how altitudinal changes in pollinator assemblages affect floral evolution. First, by literature survey, we demonstrate that although altitudinal patterns of species and genetic diversity have been extensively investigated, few clear-cut examples of altitudinal genetic differentiation of neutral markers have been identified. On the other hand, many studies have shown that adaptive traits of plants differentiate along altitude, although their adaptive genetic background is yet to be uncovered. We then briefly introduce three case studies of mountain herbaceous plant species displaying cryptic neutral genetic or adaptive trait differentiation. The first two case studies show that the floral size of both Campanula punctata and Prunella vulgaris differs among populations along altitude and is adapted to altitudinally variable pollinator size. The third case study demonstrates that Cimicifuga simplex is composed of three genetically differentiated ecotypes that are distributed parapatrically or allopatrically along an altitudinal gradient. To meet the challenges posed by future climate warming, it is essential to clarify the genetic and ecological differentiation of mountain plants along altitude.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Yusuke Nagano, Satoko Kuriya, and Haruka Kuzume for their preparation of the figures. This study was supported by the Global Environmental Research Fund (D-0904) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and the Japanese Alps Inter-University Cooperative Project, and by the Research and Education Funding for Japanese Alps Inter-Universities Cooperative Project, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. We thank the Chubu Regional Office for Nature Conservation and the Nagano Prefectural government for their permission to work in those areas.

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  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan

    Takao Itino

  2. Institute of Mountain Science, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan

    Takao Itino

  3. Sugadaira Montane Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    Akira S. Hirao

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  1. Takao Itino
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Correspondence to Takao Itino .

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  1. Faculty of Environmental Earth Sci., Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Gaku Kudo

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Itino, T., Hirao, A.S. (2016). Plant Genetic Diversity and Plant–Pollinator Interactions Along Altitudinal Gradients. In: Kudo, G. (eds) Structure and Function of Mountain Ecosystems in Japan. Ecological Research Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55954-2_4

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