Disturbance by mowing affects clonal diversity: the genetic structure of Ranunculus ficaria (Ranunculuaceae) in meadows and forests |
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Authors: | Christoph Reisch and Sebastian Scheitler |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Botany, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany |
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Abstract: | To study the impact of disturbance by mowing on clonal variation, we compared the genetic structure of Ranunculus ficaria (Ranunculaceae) in meadows and forests located in southeast Germany. We applied random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis
to investigate the clonal and genetic diversity and analysed a total of 117 samples from three study plots in each habitat
type. Polymerase chain reaction with six primers resulted in 57 fragments. Clonal diversity differed clearly between the two
analysed habitat types and was significantly higher in the study plots from meadows than in those from forests. The mean percentage
of distinguishable genotypes (PD) was 0.80 in meadow plots and 0.36 in forest plots, and the detected genets were smaller
in meadow plots than in forest plots. Mean genetic diversity measured as percentage of polymorphic bands, Shannon’s information
index and Nei’s gene diversity was also higher in meadows (44.4, 0.22 and 0.14) than in forests (25.1, 0.09 and 0.05). The
higher level of clonal diversity in meadow plots is most likely due to the effects of disturbance by mowing, which increases
the dispersal of bulbils and promotes the establishment of new plants in meadows compared to forests. |
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Keywords: | Genetic and genotypic variation RAPD Molecular marker Mowing Spatial genetic structure Dispersal |
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