The Tanggula Mountains enhance population divergence in Carex moorcroftii: a dominant sedge on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

ABSTRACT: High-altitude mountains are often geographic barriers to gene flow and play important roles in shaping population divergence. The central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) stands the location of the Tanggula Mountains (TM). We use the TM as a case, using Carex moorcroftii, a dominant species on the QTP to test the effects of geographic barriers on plant population divergence. We sampled 18 C. moorcroftii populations along a north-south transect crossing the TM to investigate the correlations of genetic variation and morphological traits with climate variables. The results showed this species holds high genetic diversity (H_e = 0.58) and the surveyed populations can be genetically clustered into two groups: populations from the north face of TM, and the other from the south. Gene flow

SUBMITTER: Liu W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5807306 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature