Conservation Genetics of Dichoropetalum schottii (Apiaceae): Is the Legal Protection of Edge Populations Consistent with the Genetic Data?

Dichoropetalum schottii is a species that lives at low to medium altitudes in the southern European mountain ranges, from the Balkans (N Greece) to the Pyrenees. Its legal protection status is not homogeneous along its distribution range, as only some of its edge populations, in the Pyrenees, are pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annales botanici fennici 2013-08, Vol.50 (4), p.269-283
Main Authors: López-Pujol, Jordi, Martinell, M. Carmen, Massó, Sergi, Rovira, Anna M., Bosch, Maria, Molero, Julià, Simon, Joan, Blanché, Cèsar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleles
allozymes
altitude
Apiaceae
Biodiversity conservation
electrophoresis
Environmental conservation
Evolutionary genetics
Genetic diversity
Genetic loci
genetic variation
Geographic regions
loci
mountains
Plants
plateaus
population
Population genetics
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:Dichoropetalum schottii is a species that lives at low to medium altitudes in the southern European mountain ranges, from the Balkans (N Greece) to the Pyrenees. Its legal protection status is not homogeneous along its distribution range, as only some of its edge populations, in the Pyrenees, are protected. Here, by means of allozyme electrophoresis, we examine the genetic variability of populations representing four different regions within its distribution area (Pyrenees, Maritime Alps, Karst Plateau in the SW Slovenia—NE Italy border region, and Pindus Mountains in Greece). The species as a whole exhibits relatively high levels of genetic diversity, partly due to the occurrence of several duplications among the loci surveyed. Genetic differentiation among populations and regions was low, which could be interpreted as the result of recent allopatric fragmentation. We conclude that the species as a whole is not threatened, and that the currently protected populations are, paradoxically, the least valuable from the genetic point of view.
ISSN:0003-3847
1797-2442
DOI:10.5735/086.050.0410