Where have all the Gentians gone?

Pritchard, N.M.

doi:10.1080/03746607208685232

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Despite the introduction of conservation measures in the 1990s, many populations have not recovered significantly (Dolek et al 2010). Gentianella bohemica is highly adapted to traditional land use and seems to be very sensitive to changes in land use, similar to other biennial Gentianella species in Europe (Pritchard 1972;Greimler and Dobeš 2000;Lennartsson 2000;Korneck et al 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Spatial and temporal determinants of genetic structure in Gentianella bohemica

Königer

Rebernig

Brabec

et al. 2012

Ecology and Evolution

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The biennial plant Gentianella bohemica is a subendemic of the Bohemian Massif, where it occurs in seminatural grasslands. It has become rare in recent decades as a result of profound changes in land use. Using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) fingerprint data, we investigated the genetic structure within and among populations of G. bohemica in Bavaria, the Czech Republic, and the Austrian border region. The aim of our study was (1) to analyze the genetic structure among populations and to discuss these findings in the context of present and historical patterns of connectivity and isolation of populations, (2) to analyze genetic structure among consecutive generations (cohorts of two consecutive years), and (3) to investigate relationships between intrapopulational diversity and effective population size (Ne) as well as plant traits. (1) The German populations were strongly isolated from each other (pairwise FST= 0.29–0.60) and from all other populations (FST= 0.24–0.49). We found a pattern of near panmixis among the latter (FST= 0.15–0.35) with geographical distance explaining only 8% of the genetic variance. These results were congruent with a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and analysis using STRUCTURE to identify genetically coherent groups. These findings are in line with the strong physical barrier and historical constraints, resulting in separation of the German populations from the others. (2) We found pronounced genetic differences between consecutive cohorts of the German populations (pairwise FST= 0.23 and 0.31), which can be explained by local population history (land use, disturbance). (3) Genetic diversity within populations (Shannon index, HSh) was significantly correlated with Ne (RS= 0.733) and reflected a loss of diversity due to several demographic bottlenecks. Overall, we found that the genetic structure in G. bohemica is strongly influenced by historical periods of high connectivity and isolation as well as by marked demographic fluctuations in declining populations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Spatial and temporal determinants of genetic structure in Gentianella bohemica

Königer

Rebernig

Brabec

et al. 2012

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Several species of gentians are declining all over Europe (Pritchard 1972, Oostermeijer et al 1992, Fischer and Matthies 1997, Oostermeijer et al 2002, Königer et al 2012), and the field gentian G. campestris is no exception. Extrapolating the trends of decline in G. campestris reported in this paper implies that this species is probably gone within the next century.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The decline of Gentianella campestris: three decades of population development of an endangered grassland plant in Sweden

Lundin

Eriksson

2021

Nordic Journal of Botany

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Species-rich semi-natural grasslands are declining all over northern Europe, and many plant species confined to such grasslands are currently under threat. We studied the development of populations of one such species, the field gentian Gentianella campestris, during three decades in the County of Södermanland, south of Stockholm, Sweden. Gentianella campestris is Red Listed as Endangered in Sweden. It is a strict biennial, and as far as known with only a transient seed bank. Large population fluctuations are a characteristic of this species, and its life history makes the species inherently sensitive to factors causing population reductions. We found that the number of sites with G. campestris has declined with over 60% in the last three decades. The total number of flowering individuals also show a strong decreasing trend, although there was an increase the last year (2020) at a few remaining sites. Cessation of grazing management is a major cause of the decline, but populations also disappeared from managed sites. It is possible that the management has been inappropriate, and circumstantial evidence suggests that summer drought might be an additional cause of population decline. Data from 2018, a year with an exceptional summer drought, supports this explanation. A sowing experiment indicated that recruitment of new populations is unlikely in the present-day landscape where most vegetation is unsuitable for G. campestris. Due to the poor prospects for long-term maintenance of grazing management in still remaining semi-natural grasslands, and the decline even at sites with current management, G. campestris faces a risk of becoming regionally extinct within the coming decades.

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On strict and facultative biennials

Kelly

1985

Oecologia

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Most so-called biennial plants may flower in their second growing season, but usually take longer in the field. Work reported here and in four recent papers on six different species has identified natural populations of strictly biennial plants, which flower only in their second year. The strict biennials and facultative biennials seem to form two distinct groups. All six strict biennial species were growing in infertile sites, and at least four of the six have annual variants at other sites, so they may be regarded as 'extended annuals' growing in sites too infertile for the life cycle to be completed in one year. In contrast most facultative biennials are pauciennials (short-lived monocarpic perennials) of more fertile, disturbed habitats. Moreover, the rigid two-year life cycle of the strict biennials creates at each site two temporally separated sub-populations, which flower in odd and even years.

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Where have all the Gentians gone?

Cited by 5 publications

References 3 publications

Spatial and temporal determinants of genetic structure in Gentianella bohemica

Spatial and temporal determinants of genetic structure in Gentianella bohemica

The decline of Gentianella campestris: three decades of population development of an endangered grassland plant in Sweden

On strict and facultative biennials

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