Aim Arctic plant phylogeography has largely focused on seed plants, and studies on other plant groups are necessary for comparison. Bryophytes have a unique life cycle and can be resistant to extreme conditions, suggesting that their phylogeographic patterns may differ from those of vascular plants. We address the history of the bryophyte genus Cinclidium in order to assess: (1) interspecific relationships, (2) whether its current broad circumarctic distribution results from recent dispersal or has been maintained by long-term local survival under severe glacial conditions, and (3) the origin of its bipolar disjunction.Location Arctic/boreal and bipolar.Methods We sequenced three plastid regions (atpH-atpI, rpl32-trnL and clpP1.1-clpP1.2) in 129 accessions covering the entire geographical range of all four described species, and inferred phylogenetic relationships and phylogeographical patterns using maximum parsimony, statistical parsimony and Bayesian inference.Results Cinclidium subrotundum was inferred to be monophyletic, in agreement with its distinct morphology and ecology. The three remaining known species (the haploids C. latifolium and C. arcticum, and the diploid C. stygium) shared a number of closely related or identical haplotypes despite their clear morphological differentiation. In all species, identical haplotypes occurred across the entire circumpolar region, including North Atlantic islands. In the bipolar species C. stygium, the haplotype observed in South America (Tierra del Fuego) was identical to one found in Iceland. Three populations originally referred to C. latifolium harboured highly divergent haplotypes and may represent a new species.Main conclusions The extensive haplotype sharing suggests a polyploid origin of C. stygium from C. arcticum, as well as incomplete lineage sorting and/or hybridization between the two haploids C. arcticum and C. latifolium. We interpret the finding of identical haplotypes over vast areas, including isolated islands, as a result of recent dispersal causing the circumpolar distribution of all species in the Northern Hemisphere and the extreme bipolar disjunction in C. stygium. The patterns in the bryophyte genus Cinclidium resemble those previously documented in arctic-alpine and bipolar vascular plants, suggesting that similar mechanisms have shaped species distributions in bryophytes and higher plants.

Temperate grasslands belong to the most diverse plant communities of Central Europe. However, there is still a lack of information about glacial refugia and migration processes of herbaceous grassland and especially steppe species in Central Europe. Therefore, we analyzed the survival and postglacial immigration of Scorzonera purpurea to Central Europe. We investigated 348 individuals from 37 populations in Europe using amplified fragment length polymorphisms and chloroplast microsatellite analyses. Our study revealed two major genetic groups along the European distribution range consisting of western populations on the one hand and closely related central and (south)eastern populations on the other hand. Genetic variation was highest within populations from the Pannonian basin and decreased toward Western and Central Europe. Our study gives evidence for the long-term survival of S. purpurea in Western Europe and the postglacial immigration from the southeastern parts of Europe, maybe by domestic livestock of migrating farmers during the Neolithic age to Central Europe. Immigration presumably followed two routes from Pannonia along the river Danube into Southern Germany and from Pannonia along the northern border of the Carpathians to Northern Germany. In Central Germany, the different genetic lineages may have met and formed contact zones. Our data show that steppe species may both have survived in and immigrated to Western and Central Europe.Further and more detailed studies on other steppe species are, therefore, needed to investigate the origin of these rare and often endangered species more generally.

A common ecological restoration approach is the reestablishment of vegetation using seed mixtures. To preserve the natural genetic pattern of plant species local seed material should be used. Consequently, seed transfer zones (seed production areas and seed provenance regions) have been delineated for ecological restoration in Germany. Although it is assumed that these transfer zones represent genetic variation, there remains a lack of empirical data. In this study, we analyzed whether seed transfer zones reflect the genetic variation of the common grassland species Lathyrus pratensis. We sampled 706 individuals from 37 populations in Bavaria, Germany and analyzed genetic variation using amplified fragment length polymorphisms. In our study, we observed higher levels of genetic variation and fragment rarity in the southern Bavarian populations compared to northern populations. Our analyses revealed a strong genetic differentiation between southern and northern Bavarian populations delineated along the Danube River. However, seed production areas and seed provenance regions reflected genetic variation of L. pratensis only to a limited degree. Our study illustrates that the level of genetic variation within populations strongly depends on population history. Furthermore, the geomorphological and climatic attributes, which have been used to delineate seed provenance regions, do not reduce gene flow among populations. Seed collections for gene banks and seed production should comprise seeds from populations in southern and northern Bavaria representing the strong genetic variation between both regions, but prioritize southern populations due to higher levels of variation.

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Phylogeographic analyses of plants in Europe have revealed common glacial refugia and migration routes for several trees and herbs with arctic-alpine distributions. The postglacial histories of dry grassland species in central Europe have rarely been analyzed, even though the extremely species-rich habitat is threatened. Sedum album (Crassulaceae) is a common inhabitant of rocky sites in central European dry grasslands. We inferred the phylogeographic history of S. album over its distribution range in Europe. Genetic diversity within and differentiation between 34 S. album populations was examined using AFLP markers. Population isolation was indicated based on the rarity of the fragments and by isolation-by-distance effects. We sequenced the trnL-trnF region in 32 populations and used chloroplast microsatellites to analyze chloroplast haplotype distributions. Two distinct S. album lineages were detected. One lineage was comprised of populations from eastern and central parts of central Europe, and the Apennine Peninsula. A second lineage was comprised of populations from the Iberian Peninsula and western and northern parts of central Europe. Glacial refugia were identified based on the accumulation of ancient chloroplast haplotypes, high diversity of AFLP fragments within populations, and high levels of rare fragments in Liguria, Serbia, the Apennine and Iberian peninsulas. Cryptic refugia were detected in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Isolation by distance was present all over the distribution range, and it was separately detected in southwestern and central Europe. In western Europe, where a contact zone between the two lineages can be expected, no isolation by distance was detected. Our results suggest migration routes of S. album northeastward from glacial refugia in southern Iberia, northward from the Apennine Peninsula, and northward and westward from the southeastern parts of central Europe. Therefore, central European grasslands were recently colonized by northern cryptic populations and source populations originating in the east and the Apennine Peninsula.