Vegetation growth and landscape genetics of Tillandsia lomas at their dry limits in the Atacama Desert show fine-scale response to environmental parameters.

ABSTRACT: Ecosystem dry limits have been studied in the context of species biology, fitness, and interactions with biotic and abiotic parameters, but the interactive effects of these parameters remain underexplored. Therefore, information on the putative effects of global climate change on these ecosystems is often lacking.We analyzed the interplay between fine-scale landscape genetics and biotic and abiotic factors of terrestrial Tillandsia lomas in the hyperarid Atacama Desert, characterized by a fog-dependent vegetation type almost entirely dominated by one single vascular plant species.We showed that metapopulations of Tillandsia landbeckii are genetically connected over many hundreds of square kilometers, and despite having a large potential for clonal propagation, genetic diversi

SUBMITTER: Koch MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7713976 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature