The role of cryptic diversity and its environmental correlates in global conservation status assessments: Insights from the threatened bird's‐eye primrose (Primula farinosa L.)

Abstract

Aim: Most of the fundamental questions in conservation biogeography require the description of species geographic boundaries and the identification of discrete biological units within these boundaries. International conservation efforts and institutions rely mainly on traditional taxonomic approaches for defining these boundaries, resulting in significant cryptic diversity going undetected and often extinct. Here, we combine high-throughput genomic data with publicly available environmental data to identify cryptic diversity in the threatened bird's-eye primrose (Primula farinosa).We aim to characterize evolutionary lineages and test whether they co-occur with changes in environmental conditions. These lineages can be used as intraspecific units for conservation to enhance assessments regarding the status of threatened species.Location: Europe and temperate Asia (latitude, 40-65°N; longitude, 10°E-115°W). Methods:We genotyped 93 individuals from 71 populations at 1,220 loci (4,089 SNPs) across the Eurasian distribution of P. farinosa. We used phylogenomic and population structure approaches to identify intraspecific lineages. We further extracted statistically derived and remotely sensed environmental information, that is land cover, climate and soil characteristics, to define the biotic and abiotic environment inhabited by each lineage and test for niche similarities among lineages. Additionally, we tested for isolation by distance among populations and applied linear and polynomial regressions to identify lineage-environment associations.Results: Analyses of genomic data revealed six major lineages within P. farinosa corresponding to distinct geographic areas. Niche similarity tests indicated that lineages occupy distinct abiotic and biotic space. Isolation by distance indicated that geography alone cannot explain genetic divergence within P. farinosa, while lineage-environment associations suggested potential adaptation to different abiotic conditions across lineages. However, relationships with the land cover classes, a proxy for habitat, were weaker.

Characteristics, Main Impacts, and Stewardship of Natural and Artificial Freshwater Environments: Consequences for Biodiversity Conservation

“…Southern-European bogs have a great naturalistic and biological value being relics of the Quaternary glaciations. Mires in southern Europe may be very old [389] and often harbor not only relict population of boreal species [390,391] but also endemics and specific genotypes of mire specialists [392,393]. Although disjunct occurrences and endemism of vascular plants in southern-European bogs are well known, less is known about smaller organisms such as diatoms.…”

Substantial differences in genetic diversity and spatial structuring among (cryptic) amphipod species in a mountainous river basin

“…Therefore, it is an essential first step to identify the amount of cryptic species and genetic diversity, and then assess the role of environmental conditions that structure this diversity within a river catchment. This sets the framework for follow‐up studies that can investigate ecological preferences and trait variation arising from genetic variation (Bolnick et al., 2011; Theodoridis, Nogués‐Bravo, & Conti, 2019).…”

Pronounced Genetic Separation Among Varieties of thePrimula cusickianaSpecies Complex, a Great Basin Endemic

“…Recent research has shown several different alpine Primula species complexes to contain previously undescribed cryptic species, in China (Huang et al 2019; Ren et al 2020) and in Europe (Schorr et al 2013; Theodoridis et al 2019). Our findings on the P. cusickiana species complex resonate with these trends, and raise the question of what unique traits Primula possesses which might cause such frequent diversification via allopatric speciation.…”