Genetic variation of litter meadow species reflects gene flow by hay transfer and mowing with agricultural machines
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Genetic variation of litter meadow species reflects gene flow by hay transfer and mowing with agricultural machines Theresa Anna Lehmair1 · Ellen Pagel1 · Peter Poschlod1 · Christoph Reisch1 Received: 23 October 2019 / Accepted: 18 July 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Litter meadows, historically established for litter production, are species-rich and diverse ecosystems. These meadows drastically declined during the last decades along with decreasing litter use in modern livestock housing. The aim of our study was to identify the drivers of genetic variation in litter meadow species. Therefore, we tested whether genetic diversity and differentiation depend on habitat age, landscape structure, habitat quality, and/or population size. We analysed 892 individuals of Angelica sylvestris, Filipendula ulmaria, and Succisa pratensis from 20 litter meadows across the Allgäu in Baden-Württemberg (Germany) using AFLP analyses. All study species showed moderate levels of genetic diversity, while genetic differentiation among populations was low. Neither genetic diversity nor differentiation were clearly driven by habitat age. However, landscape structure, habitat quality as well as population size revealed different impacts on the genetic diversity of our study species. Past and present landscape structures shaped the genetic diversity patterns of A. sylvestris and F. ulmaria. The genetic diversity of F. ulmaria populations was, moreover, influenced by the local habitat quality. S. pratensis populations seemed to be affected only by population size. All explanatory variables represent past as well as present gene flow patterns by anthropogenic land use. Therefore, we assume that genetic diversity and differentiation were shaped by both historical creation of litter meadows via hay transfer and present mowing with agricultural machines. These land use practices caused and still cause gene flow among populations in the declining habitats. Keywords AFLP · Litter meadow · Semi-natural grassland · Conservation · Genetic variation · Management
Introduction Litter meadows constitute valuable habitats for many specialised, rare, and endangered plant and animal species (Wheeler 1988). Therefore, these semi-natural grasslands belong to the most species-rich ecosystems in Central Europe (Kull and Zobel 1991) and represent key areas for biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes, despite their comparably short land use history and limited spatial distribution.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-020-01294-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Ellen Pagel [email protected]‑regensburg.de 1
Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
According to Poschlod (2017), the construction of railway lines opened up the Alpine foreland region at the end of the nineteenth century. Agricultural goods w
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