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A comparison of the population genetic structure of parasitic Viscum album from two landscapes differing in degree of fragmentation

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Abstract

Parasite populations do not necessarily conform to expected patterns of genetic diversity and structure. Parasitic plants may be more vulnerable to the negative consequences of landscape fragmentation because of their specialized life history strategies and dependence on host plants, which are themselves susceptible to genetic erosion and reduced fitness following habitat change. We used AFLP genetic markers to investigate the effects of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity and structure within and among populations of hemiparasitic Viscum album. Comparing populations from two landscapes differing in the amount of forest fragmentation allowed us to directly quantify habitat fragmentation effects. Populations from both landscapes exhibited significant isolation-by-distance and sex ratios biased towards females. The less severely fragmented landscape had larger and less isolated populations, resulting in lower levels of population genetic structure (F ST = 0.05 vs. 0.09) and inbreeding (F IS = 0.13 vs. 0.27). Genetic differentiation between host-tree subpopulations was also higher in the more fragmented landscape. We found no significant differences in within-population gene diversity, percentage of polymorphic loci, or molecular variance between the two regions, nor did we find relationships between genetic diversity measures and germination success. Our results indicate that increasing habitat fragmentation negatively affects population genetic structure and levels of inbreeding in V. album, with the degree of isolation among populations exerting a stronger influence than forest patch size.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to S. Boavida Torrado for help with fieldwork and seed germination experiments, and to N. Mergan, S. van Glabeke, and K. Vandepitte for their patience and assistance with genetic analyses. Comments from two anonymous referees greatly improved this paper. S.S. was partially supported by a fellowship from the Belgian American Educational Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Plant Ecology and Systematics, Biology Department, Catholic University Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium

    Sharon Stanton, Olivier Honnay & Hans Jacquemyn

  2. Plant Growth and Development, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research, Caritasstraat 21, 9090, Melle, Belgium

    Isabel Roldán-Ruiz

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  1. Sharon Stanton
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  2. Olivier Honnay
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  4. Isabel Roldán-Ruiz
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Correspondence to Sharon Stanton.

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Stanton, S., Honnay, O., Jacquemyn, H. et al. A comparison of the population genetic structure of parasitic Viscum album from two landscapes differing in degree of fragmentation. Plant Syst Evol 281, 161–169 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-009-0198-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-009-0198-0

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