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Gradual decline in genetic diversity in Swiss stone pine populations (Pinus cembra) across Switzerland suggests postglacial re-colonization into the Alps from a common eastern glacial refugium

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Abstract

Molecular genetic markers may reveal informative patterns of population processes such as historical migration, which may substantiate inference on postglacial re-colonization inferred, e.g., from fossil records. Palynological records of Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra) suggest that the species has re-colonized the central Alps from a southeastern Alpine refugium after the last glacial maximum. Such a migration pathway likely resulted in a gradual decrease in genetic diversity with increasing distance to the glacial refugium, owing to founder events at the leading range edge. The present distribution of P. cembra in Switzerland consists of two rather distinct ranges, namely the inner-alpine parts of the Grisons and Valais, respectively, and additional disjunct occurrences in the northern and southern periphery of the Alps as well as between the two main ranges. We screened chloroplast microsatellite loci on 39 Swiss P. cembra populations and show that the genetic structure detected was congruent with a common ancestry from a single glacial refugium, likely located at the (south-)eastern periphery of the Alps. In contrast, our data rejected the alternative hypothesis of a distinct genetic separation of the two main ranges of Swiss stone pine in Switzerland. We further show that low genetic diversity within and high differentiation among peripheral populations in the northern Alps as well as the genetic differentiation between core and peripheral populations reflect genetic drift as a consequence of colonization history and limited gene flow by pollen and seed.

Zusammenfassung

Molekulargenetische Marker enthalten wertvolle Information über Populationsprozesse wie historische Wanderungen, wodurch Annahmen zur postglazialen Wiederbesiedelung, beispielsweise abgeleitet von Fossilfunden, unterstützt werden können. Palynologische Funde von Arve (Pinus cembra) lassen vermuten, dass diese Art nach dem letzten glazialen Maximum von einem Refugium in den südöstlichen Alpen wieder in die zentralen Alpen eingewandert ist. Ein solcher Rückwanderungsweg dürfte aufgrund von Gründereffekten an der Wanderungsfront eine graduelle Verringerung der genetischen Variation mit zunehmender Distanz zum Glazialrefugium bewirkt haben. Die heutige Verbreitung von P. cembra in der Schweiz weist zwei deutlich getrennte Gebiete auf, nämlich inneralpine Bereiche der Kantone Graubünden und Wallis, mit jeweils isolierten Vorkommen in den nördlichen und südlichen Randalpen. Wir untersuchten Chloroplasten-Mikrosatelliten in 39 Schweizer Populationen von P. cembra und zeigen, dass die gefundene genetische Struktur übereinstimmt mit der Annahme einer gemeinsamen Abstammung aus einem einzigen Glazialrefugium, welches vermutlich am (süd-)östlichen Rand der Alpen lag. Im Gegensatz dazu widerlegen unsere Daten die alternative Hypothese einer deutlichen genetischen Trennung der zwei Hauptvorkommen der Arve in der Schweiz. Im Weiteren zeigen unsere Resultate eine geringe genetische Variation innerhalb und einen hohen Differenzierungsgrad zwischen nördlichen Randalpenvorkommen, sowie eine genetische Differenzierung zwischen zentralen und peripheren Populationen. Dies weist auf genetische Drift hin, welche die Besiedlungsgeschichte und einen beschränkten Genfluss durch Pollen und Samen widerspiegelt.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Sabine Brodbeck for support in the lab, and Rolf Holderegger as well as the anonymous reviewers and Christian Parisod for comments on the manuscript. We are grateful to local forest services and forest owners for permission to sample plant material.

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  1. Martin Rüegg

    Present address: , Schmerikonerstrasse 5, 8733, Eschenbach, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Felix Gugerli & Martin Rüegg

  2. Istituto di Genetica Vegetale, CNR, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy

    Giovanni G. Vendramin

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  1. Felix Gugerli
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  2. Martin Rüegg
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Correspondence to Felix Gugerli.

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Responsible Editor: Christian Parisod.

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Gugerli, F., Rüegg, M. & Vendramin, G.G. Gradual decline in genetic diversity in Swiss stone pine populations (Pinus cembra) across Switzerland suggests postglacial re-colonization into the Alps from a common eastern glacial refugium. Bot. Helv. 119, 13–22 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00035-009-0052-6

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