Resistance or emigration: response of the high‐alpine plant Eritrichium nanum (L.) Gaudin to the ice age within the Central Alps

Abstract

Two main possibilities regarding glacial survival of the mountain flora of the Alps during the Quaternary have been discussed: the tabula rasa and the nunatak hypotheses. Eritrichium nanum (L.) Gaudin (Boraginaceae) is a perennial cushion plant, occurring at high elevations of the Central Alps and having a preference for extreme habitats. It belongs to a group of high-alpine plants, for which in situ glacial survival on nunataks is ecologically possible. By investigating 20 populations of E. nanum of potential nunatak and peripheral refugial regions using amplified fragment length polymorphism, considerable genetic differences between populations from the Central Alps and populations from peripheral refugia were detected; hence, the latter probably did not serve as potential sources for the re-colonization of the Central Alps after glaciation. Genetic variation was hierarchically structured (AMOVA), and three genetically distinct regions could be identified in the Central Alps. Two of these, the Penninic and Rhaetic Alps, correspond to nunatak regions proposed in the biogeographic literature. Populations from the Lepontic Alps formed a third genetic group. Genetic correlation (Mantel statistics) was highest within populations, with a modest decline among populations within specific nunatak regions and a negative correlation outside the genetic influence of specific nunatak regions. In situ glacial survival in E. nanum could be a model for the Quaternary history of other alpine plants, especially those that also occur at high elevations and in similar habitats.

Alpines, trees, and refugia in Europe

“…(7) Changes in the distribution of alpines and the extent of suitable habitat for alpines in the midHolocene thermal maximum have potentially important implications for the interpretation of genetic diversity data for European alpines (e.g. Stehlik et al 2001;Comes and Kadereit 2003;Kropf et al 2003;Nargas 2003;Vargas 2003;Skrede et al 2006). (8) There is the need for many more detailed LGM palaeobotanical studies in Europe involving plant macrofossils, macroscopic charcoal, and stomata as such studies provide the only real evidence of former species presence.…”

Sex-specific SCAR markers in the dioecious plant Rumex nivalis (Polygonaceae) and implications for the evolution of sex chromosomes

“…This latter purification step was performed routinely in our Rumex accessions due to the sensitivity of the ligation to secondary compounds. We carried out the AFLP protocol following the procedure described by Vos et al (1995) with minor modifications as given in Stehlik et al (2000). The ligate was pre-amplified with the one-base selective primer EA (5 0 -GACTGCGTACCAATTCA-3 0 ) and the non-selective M0 (5 0 -GATGAGTCCTGAGTAAG-3 0 ), and subsequently selectively amplified using the primer pair EA+CC/M0+CTC.…”

“…We separated the total AFLP amplification product of one male of R. nivalis on an Elchrom-spreadex-600 gel (Elchrom Scientific) at 20 C and 120 V/200 mA, using the SEA 2000 electrophoresis apparatus (Elchrom Scientific) for 225 min and stained in ethidiumbromide for 1 h. A small piece of the gel containing the targeted fragment was excised and directly re-amplified without prior cleaning using the same PCR conditions as for pre-selective AFLP amplification (Stehlik et al 2000), but with a shorter elongation (30 s instead of 60 s). The resulting fragment was electrophoretically purified in a 1.5% agarose gel, eluted with a QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (QIAGEN) and TA-cloned in the pGEM-T Easy vector (Promega).…”

The phylogeography of an alpine leaf beetle: Divergence within Oreina elongata spans several ice ages

“…Climate cycles may therefore have led currently isolated populations to have come repeatedly into contact during cold periods as their suitable habitat expanded. For the alpine flora, long-term refugia within the Alps and at their northern, southern and eastern borders have been proposed on the basis of recent molecular studies (Stehlik et al, 2001;Stehlik, 2002;Schönswetter et al, 2005). Such results have important implications for the community ecology of montane habitats.…”