Phenotypic diversity in natural populations of an endangered plant <em>Tetracentron sinense</em>

Abstract

Background: Tetracentron sinense, distributed mainly in central and southwest China, is a threatened deciduous broad-leaved canopy tree. Presently, little is known about the phenotypic diversity in natural populations of T. sinense, and its fitness and evolutionary potential to the fragmental habitat, which is very important for its conservation. Questions: (1) How is the level of phenotypic diversity in natural populations of T. sinense? (2) Which factors influenced the phenotypic variation? Species study: Tetracentron sinense. Study dates: Between September and October 2014Methods: 20 phenotypic traits from 11 populations were measured. Nested analysis of variance, multicomparison, principal components analysis, cluster analysis and correlation analysis were used to study the phenotypic variation and its relation to geo-climate factors. Results: Analysis of nested variance showed significant difference among and within populations, but the phenotypic differentiation coefficient and variance component among populations was higher than that within populations. Variation of phenotypic traits in T. sinense was mainly associated with annual sunshine hours, and showed cline variation along longitude and elevation. 11 provenances of T. sinense were clustered into four groups based on PCA. Conclusions: Phenotypic variation in T. sinense mainly existed among population, and there was moderate level of phenotypic differentiation among populations and low level of phenotypic variation within populations in T. sinense. Autogamy or geitonogamy may be the major factor contributing to the low phenotypic variation and moderate genetic divergence within this species. Suggestions for conservation strategies are provided.

Low within-population genetic diversity and high genetic differentiation among populations of the endangered plant Tetracentron sinense Oliver revealed by inter-simple sequence repeat analysis

“…The gene diversity within populations (Hs = 0.076) was less than half of the total gene diversity (Ht = 0.194), suggesting that the genetic variation of T. sinense mainly existed among population, similar to the AMOVA analysis results. This result was also consistent with the cpDNA markers (Sun et al 2014) and phenotypic traits (Han et al 2017) results.…”

Phenotypic diversity and plasticity index of Eurycoma apiculata populations in Eastern Sumatra, Indonesia based on leaves morphology

“…As a preliminary study, we will assess the phenotypic diversity of E. apiculata in a larger geographical scale based on the leaflet morphometric analysis. However, the main disadvantage in using solely a morphometric approach is the difficulty to distinguish observed variation in natural populations B I OD I V E R S ITA S 21 (7): 2923-2934, July 2020 2924 whether originate from genetic diversity or phenotypic plasticity, but this method is still frequently used researchers to estimate the morphological variability of plant species (Kajba et al 2015;Poljak et al 2015;Yang et al 2015;Stojnic et al 2016;Romeo et al 2016;Yang et al 2016;Han et al 2017;Sheng et al 2017;Bijarpasi et al 2019). The morphological traits of leaves in tree species can provide rich information about the evolution of genetics and phenotypic diversity.…”

“…The morphological traits of leaves in tree species can provide rich information about the evolution of genetics and phenotypic diversity. Phenotypic diversity in plants is the basic feature of life system, it is needed by the population to evolve in response to environmental changes, and its maintenance is very important for long time species survival (Han et al 2017).…”

Structural characteristics and niches of dominant tree populations in <em>Tetracentron sinense</em> communities: implications for conservation

“…It has been listed as a national second-grade-protected endangered plant in China (Fu & Chin 1992). Recently, the population ecology (Tang et al 2013), reproductive biology (Gan et al 2012, Gan et al 2013, seed and seedling ecology (Zhou 2007, Luo et al 2010, Cao et al 2012, Han et al 2015, and genetic diversity (Sun et al 2014, Li et al 2016, Han et al 2017 of T. sinense has been studied to examine the factors influencing natural population regeneration. To date, little is known about the structural characteristics or niches of dominant tree populations in T. sinense communities.…”