Genetic structure of colline and montane populations of an endangered plant species

Abstract

We found that populations of the threatened plant Arnica montana have conserved a considerable amount of genetic diversity, even when they have become fragmented. However, populations in the Vosges mountains differed strongly in their genetic makeup from populations at lower elevations. It has been suggested to reinforce lowland populations of rare plants with seeds from the uplands, but in view of our results this does not seem to be a good idea for A. montana. Because they are genetically different, plants from the mountains could be less able to cope with conditions in the lowlands than lowland plants.

Evaluation of species inter-relations and soil conditions in Arnica montana L. habitats: a step towards active protection of endangered and high-valued medicinal plant species in NE Poland

“…The population size was assessed by counting the total number of rosettes (number of ramets, TNR). Direct counting of rosettes or flowering stems is used to determine the population size [3,4,6]. Arnica genets can produce several compacted flowerings or nonflowering rosettes [3,44], and identification of individuals without the use of invasive methods (checking the rosette connection through rhizomes) or genetic studies is impossible.…”

“…Mountain arnica (Arnica montana L.) is an herbaceous perennial herb and a medicinal plant mainly found in grasslands and shrublands of mountain environments [1][2][3][4][5]. It also grows in meadows on siliceous soils, marginal parts of spruce forests, open forest edges, and dry pine forests [6][7][8].…”

“…In recent decades, changes in land use, habitat fragmentation, and nutrient enrichment through fertilization or cessation of traditional agricultural practices, aerial deposition of nitrogen [4,10,15,16], and collection for medicinal purposes have led to a rapid decline in this species across Europe. An increase in the frequency and coverage of different species of graminoids, which are important competitors, is a particular problem [4,17,18]. The inflow of mineral nitrogen from the atmosphere is the main cause of expansion and domination of grasses [10,11,16].…”

“…However, little is known about the properties of soils in arnica sites located in the lowlands of Central and Eastern Europe, and in the Bohemian Massif and the Eastern Carpathians. In studies of arnica populations, soil characteristics are very often presented as simple data and are very often based on ecological indicators [4,17,18] as substitutes [45,46] for the level of soil moisture, pH, and nitrogen. Godefroid et al [47] analyzed the reintroduction of approximately 250 plant species worldwide by assessing the methods used and the results obtained from these reintroduction experiments.…”

Summer aridity rather than management shapes fitness‐related functional traits of the threatened mountain plant Arnica montana

“…In addition, it is reported that slug herbivory acts as a limiting factor for Arnica 's geographical range toward lowland sites by causing considerable leaf damages (Bruelheide & Scheidel, 1999). Overall threats for A. montana across elevations are isolation and small‐sized populations with low genetic diversity (Duwe, Muller, Borsch, & Ismail, 2017), because the reproductive and genetic fitness of Arnica populations are strongly influenced by population size and its demographic structure (Kahmen & Poschlod, 2000; Maurice, Colling, Muller, & Matthies, 2012; Maurice, Matthies, Muller, & Colling, 2016). However, elevation and linked climatic factors as well as management are considered as equally important factors that influence the vegetative and generative performance of A. montana individuals because environmental conditions and biotic interactions are expected to become more suitable at higher elevations (Mardari et al, 2019).…”