| Abstract: | Although sexual reproduction appears to be rare in many clonal plant species, the majority of clonal species show similar levels of genetic variation to non-clonal plant species. Aegopodium podagraria is a noxious garden weed and has become a successful invader in many natural habitats. Earlier studies have demonstrated population differentiation in life-history traits between different A. podagraria populations in Sweden. In this study, we used three methods to assess genetic variation in this species. Using analyses of molecular markers (chloroplast DNA PCR-RFLP and allozyme electrophoresis) we did not detect any variation between different A. podagraria clones. However, a multivariate analysis of leaflet shape in five populations from central Sweden revealed considerable variation both within and between populations. The variation found in leaflet shape is suggested to be genetically based because the leaves were collected from plants grown from seed under similar conditions in a common garden environment. These relatively high levels of variation within and between populations indicate that there is likely to be repeated seedling recruitment within established populations. 1 |
