Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Genetic diversity and fitness in Scabiosa columbaria in the Swiss Jura in relation to population size

  • Published:
Conservation Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Due to changes in land use, remnants ofunfertilised, nutrient-poor calcareousgrassland in the Swiss Jura are small in areaand are highly fragmented. We selected 89 seedfamilies from eleven populations of varioussizes of Scabiosa columbaria for a studyof molecular diversity, and used the samematerial in a greenhouse experiment to measurevariation in fitness-related traits and theability of populations to cope withcompetition. Using RAPD-PCR we detected 71RAPD-phenotypes among 87 genotypes. Moleculardiversity within populations was variable andrelatively high, with an expectedheterozygosity H e ranging from 0.09 to0.24. H e, the Shannon index (SI) and thepercentage of polymorphic bands were notcorrelated with population size, but thesmallest populations had the lowest moleculardiversity (H e, SI). Populationdifferentiation was moderate with 12% of themolecular diversity among populations. Measuresof fitness in the greenhouse differed amongseed families (P < 0.001), but not amongpopulations. Mean above-ground biomass waslargely reduced when plants had to compete withBromus. Mean fitness of populationsdecreased when molecular diversity (H e)was low, but only when plants had to competewith Bromus (P = 0.02). Accordingly, therelative competition ability of Scabiosaplants decreased when molecular diversity(H e) was low (P = 0.01). Our resultssuggest an increased risk of local extinctionof Scabiosa columbaria in the Swiss Juracaused by a decreased viability and reducedphenotypic plasticity due to genetic erosion insmall populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arafeh RMH, Sapir Y, Shmida A, Iraki N, Fragman O, Comes HP (2002) Patterns of genetic and phenotypic variation in Iris haynei and I. atrofusca (Iris sect. Oncocyclus = the royal irises) along an ecogeographical gradient in Israel and theWest Bank. Mol. Ecol., 11, 39–53.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Behre K, Jacomet S (1991) The ecological interpretation of archaeobotanical data. In: Progress in Old World Palaeoethnobotany (eds. van Zeist W, Wasylikowa K, Behre K), pp. 81–108. Balkema, Rotterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bijlsma R, Oubourg N, Van Treuren R (1991) Genetic and phenotypic variation in relation to population size in two plant species: Salvia pratensis and Scabiosa columbaria. In: Species Conservation: A Population-Biological Approach (eds. Seitz A, Loeschcke V), pp. 89–101. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bijlsma R, Ouborg N, Van Treuren R (1994) On genetic erosion and population extinction in plants: A case study in Scabiosa columbaria and Salvia pratensis. In: Conservation Genetics (eds. Loeschcke V, Tomink J, Jain S), pp. 255–271. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buza L, Young A, Thrall P (2000) Genetic erosion, inbreeding and reduced fitness in fragmented populations of the endangered tetraploid pea Swainsona recta. Biol. Conserv., 93, 177–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cain M, Milligan B, Strand A (2000) Long-distance seed dispersal in plant populations. Am. J. Bot., 87, 1217–1227.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Charlesworth D, Charlesworth B (1987) Inbreeding depression and its evolutionary consequences. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 18, 237–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheptou P, Berger A, Blanchard A, Collin C, Escarre J (2000) The effect of drought stress on inbreeding depression in four populations of the Mediterranean outbrossing plant Crepis sancta (Asteraceae). Heredity, 85, 294–302.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ellstrand N, Elam D (1993) Population genetic consequences of small population-size-Implications for plant conservation. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 24, 217–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenster C, Dudash M (1994) Genetic considerations for plant population restoration and conservation. In: Restoration of Endangered Species: Conceptual Issues, Planning, and Implementation (eds. Bowles M, Whelan C), pp. 34–62. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer M, Matthies D (1998) RAPD variation in relation to population size and plant fitness in the rare Gentianella germanica (Gentianaceae). Am. J. Bot., 85, 811–819.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer M, Stöcklin J (1997) Local extinctions of plants in remnants of extensively used calcareous grasslands 1950-1985. Conserv. Biol., 11, 727–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer M, van Kleunen M, Schmid B (2000) Genetic Allee effects on performance, plasticity and developmental stability in a clonal plant. Ecol. Lett., 3, 530–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankham R (1996) Relationship of genetic variation to population size in wildlife. Conserv. Biol., 10, 1500–1508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilpin M, Soulé M (1986) Minimum viable population: Processes of species extinction. In: Conservation Biology, the Science of Scarcity and Diversity (ed. Soulé ME), pp. 19–34. Sinauer, Sunderland, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grime J, Hodgson J, Hunt R (1988) Comparative Plant Ecology: A Functional Approach to Common British Species. Unwin Hyman, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grünbauer G, Pfadenhauer J, Müller-Starck G (1999) Genetische Variation bei Wildpflanzen: Einfluss der Fragmentation auf Populationen von Succisa pratensis. Verh. Ges. Oek., 29, 425–436.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heck KL, van Belle G, Simberloff, D (1975) Explicit calculation of the rarefaction diversity measurement and the determination of sufficient sample size. Ecology, 56, 1459–1461.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegi G (1918) Flora von Mitteleuropa. Lehmanns Verlag, München.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huenneke L (1991) Ecolocigal implications of genetic variation in plant populations. In: Genetics and Conservation of Rare Plants (eds. Falk D, Holsinger K), pp. 31–44. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kery M, Matthies D, Spillmann H (2000) Reduced fecundity and offspring performance in small populations of the declining grassland plants Primula veris and Gentiana lutea. J. Ecol., 88, 17–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knuth P (1898) Handbuch der Blütenbiologie. Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacy R (1987) Loss of genetic diversity from managed populations: Interacting effects of drift, mutation, immigration, selection and population subdivision. Conserv. Biol., 1, 143–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lammi A, Siikamaki P, Mustajarvi K (1999) Genetic diversity, population size, and fitness in central and peripheral populations of a rare plant Lychnis viscaria. Conserv. Biol., 13, 1069–1078.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lande R (1988) Genetics and demography in biological conservation. Science, 241, 215–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lauber K, Wagner G (1996) Flora Helvetica. Haupt, Bern.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesica P, Allendorf F (1995) When are peripheral-populations valuable for conservation. Conserv. Biol., 9, 753–760.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewontin RC (1972) The apportionment of human diverstiy. J. Evol. Biol., 6, 381–394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luijten H, Dierick A, Oostermeijer J, Raijmann L, Den Nijs H (2000) Population size, genetic variation, and reproductive stress in rapidly declining, self-incompatible perennial (Arnica montana) in The Netherlands. Conserv. Biol., 14, 1776–1787.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mavraganis K, Eckert C (2001) Effects of population size and isolation on reproductive output in Aquilegia canadensis (Ranunculaceae). Oikos, 95, 300–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller M (1997) Tools for Population Genetic Analysis (TFPGA). A Windows Program for the Analysis of Allozyme and Molecular Population Genetic Data, 1. 3ed edn. Computer software distributed by the author.

  • Müller H (1873) Die Befruchtung der Blumen durch Insekten und die gegenseitige Anpassung beider. Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nei M (1973) Analysis of genetic diversity in subdivided populations. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 70, 3321–3323.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nybom N, Bartish I (2000) Effects of life history traits and sampling strategies on genetic diversity estimates obtained with RAPD markers in plants. Perspect. Pl. Ecol. Evo. Syst., 3, 93–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oostermeijer J, Eijck M, Nijls J (1994) Offspring fitness in relation to population size and genetic variation in the rare perennial plant species Gentiana pneumonanthe (Gentianaceae). Oecologia, 97, 289–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouborg N, Van Treuren R (1995) Variation in fitness-related characters among small and large populations of Salvia pratensis. J. Ecol., 83, 369–380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouborg N, Van Treuren R, Van Damme J (1991) The significance of genetic erosion in the process of extinction: II. Morphological variation and fitness components in populations of varying size of Salvia pratensis L. and Scabiosa columbaria L. Oecologia, 86, 359–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papa R, Attene G, Barcaccia G, Ohgata A, Konishi T (1998) Genetic diversity in landrace populations of Hordeum vulgare L. from Sardinia, Italy, as revealed by RAPDs, isozymes and morphophenological traits. Plant Breed., 117, 523–530.

    Google Scholar 

  • Podolsky R (2001) Genetic variation for morphological and allozyme variation in relation to population size in Clarkia dudleyana, an endemic annual. Conserv. Biol., 15, 412–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pott R (1995) The origin of grassland plant species and grassland communities in Central Europe. Fitosociologia, 29, 7–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed DH, Briscoe DA, Frankham R (2002) Inbreeding and extinction: The effect of environmental stress and lineage. Conserv. Gen., 3, 301–307.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reed D, Frankham R (2001) How closely correlated are molecular and quantitative measures of genetic variation? A meta-analysis. Evolution, 55, 1095–1103.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds HL (1999) Plant interactions: Competition. In: Handbook of Functional Plant Ecology (eds. Pugnaire FI, Valladares F), pp. 649–676. Marcel Dekker AG, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryf M (1997) Veränderung in der Artzusammensetzung von Kalkmagerrasen im Nordwestschweizer Jura in den letzten 40 Jahren. Diploma-thesis, University of Basel, Switzerland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlichting C (1986) The evolution of phenotypic plasticity in plants. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 17, 667–693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt K, Jensen K (2000) Genetic structure and AFLP variation of remnant populations in the rare plant Pedicularis palustris (Scrophulariaceae) and its relation to population size and reproductive components. Am. J. Bot., 87, 678–689.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider S, Kueffer J-M, Roessli D, Excoffier L (1997) Arlequin: A Software for Populations Genetic Data Analysis, 1.1st edn. Genetics and Biometry Laboratory, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snaydon RW (1991) Replacement or additive designs for competition studies. J. Appl. Ecol., 28, 930–946.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal R, Rohlf F (1995) Biometry. Freeman WH and Company, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Srikwan S, Woodruff D (2000) Genetic erosion in isolated small mammal populations following rainforest fragmentation. In: Genetics, Demography and Viability of Fragmented Populations (eds. Young A, Clarke G), pp. 149–172. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stöcklin J, Fischer M (1999) Plants with longer-lived seeds have lower local extinction rates in grassland remnants 1950-1985. Oecologia, 120, 539–543.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stöcklin J, Ryf M, Fischer M (2000) Small size of remnants of nutrient-poor calcareous grassland (Mesobromion) in the Swiss Jura puts many plant species at risk of local extinction. Z. Oek. Naturschutz, 9, 109–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sultan SE (2000) Phenotypic plasticity for plant development, function and life history. Trends Plant Sci., 5, 537–542.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Treuren R, Bijlsma R, Ouborg N, Kwak M (1994) Relationships between plant density, outcrossing rates and seed set in natural and experimental populations of Scabiosa columbaria. J. Evol. Biol., 7, 287–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Treuren R, Bijlsma R, Ouborg N, Van Delden W (1993) The significance of genetic erosion in the process of extinction: IV. Inbreeding depression and heterosis effects caused by selfing and outcrossing in Scabiosa columbaria. Evolution, 47, 1669–1680.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Treuren R, Bijlsma R, Van Delden W, Ouborg N (1991) The significance of genetic erosion in the process of extinction: I. Genetic differentiation in Salvia pratensis and Scabiosa columbaria in relation to population size. Heredity, 66, 181–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vazquez J, Gomez-Mercado F, Guerrero J, Rodriguez-Garcia I, Garcia-Maroto F (1999) Genetic relationships and population structure within taxa of the endemic Sideritis pusilla (Lamiaceae) assessed using RAPDs. Bot. J. Linnean Soc., 129, 345–358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vergeer P, Rengelink R, Copal A, Ouborg N (2003) The interacting effects of genetic variation, habitat quality and population size on performance of Succisa pratensis. J. Ecol., 91, 18–26.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waldmann P, Andersson S (1998) Comparison of quantitative genetic variation and allozyme diversity within and between populations of Scabiosa canescens and S. columbaria. Heredity, 81, 79–86.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wright S (1977) Evolution and the Genetics of Populations, Vol. 3. Experimental Results and Evolutionary Deductions. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeh F, Yang R, Boyle T, Ye Z-H, Mao J (1997) POPGENE, the User-Friendly Shareware for Populations Genetics Analysis, 1. 21nd edn. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Centre, University of Alberta, Edomnton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young A, Boyle T, Brown T (1996) The population genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation for plants. Trends Ecol. Evol., 11, 413–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zoller H (1954) Die Typen der Bromus erectus-Wiesen des Schweizer Jura. Verlag Hans Huber, Bern.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zoller H, Wagner C, Frey V (1986) Nutzungsbedingte Veränderungen in Mesobromion-Halbtrockenrasen in der Region Basel-Vergleich 1950-1980. Abh. Wesfäl. Museum f. Naturk., 48, 93–108.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botanical Institute, University of Basel, Schoenbeinstrasse 6, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Andrea R. Pluess & J. Stöcklin

Authors
  1. Andrea R. Pluess
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Stöcklin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea R. Pluess.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pluess, A.R., Stöcklin, J. Genetic diversity and fitness in Scabiosa columbaria in the Swiss Jura in relation to population size. Conservation Genetics 5, 145–156 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:COGE.0000029999.10808.c2

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:COGE.0000029999.10808.c2

Search

Navigation