Phenetic diversity in the Fritillaria camschatcensis population grown on the Sapporo campus of Hokkaido University

Triploid Fritillaria camschatcensis (L.) Ker-Gawler (2n = 3x = 36) is a wild species growing in the low-lying areas of Hokkaido Island, Japan, including the Sapporo campus of Hokkaido University. Many F. camschatcensis plants grew on the campus about a century ago, but we seldom find the plants nowadays and so a project to restore this species is being planned. Because preservation of genetic diversity and composition in populations has become a major target of conservation, this study compared variation in the F. camschatcensis population on the Sapporo campus with that in two other populations in Hokkaido. Phenetic variation assessed by 57 randomly amplified polymorphic DNA markers showed that the three populations were significantly distinct from each other; analysis of molecular variance showed 64.3% of variation (P < 0.001) existed among the three populations. Comparison of phenetic diversity on the Sapporo campus population with that in the two other populations showed that the Sapporo campus population contained large genetic variation despite reduced plant numbers. These results indicate that multiplying F. camschatcensis individuals on the Sapporo campus is adequate to restore the Sapporo campus population because this population contains enough genetic diversity, and that transplanting from other populations should be avoided so as not to introduce different genotypes into the campus. These results will be used to design the restoration strategy.