Tracking population genetic signatures of local extinction with herbarium specimens.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Habitat degradation and landscape fragmentation dramatically lower population sizes of rare plant species. Decreasing population sizes may, in turn, negatively affect genetic diversity and reproductive fitness, which can ultimately lead to local extinction of populations. Although such extinction vortex dynamics have been postulated in theory and modelling for decades, empirical evidence from local extinctions of plant populations is scarce. In particular, comparisons between current vs. historical genetic diversity and differentiation are lacking despite their potential to guide conservation management.

Methods

We studied the population genetic signatures of the local extinction of Biscutella laevigata subsp. gracilis populations in Central Germany. We u

SUBMITTER: Rosche C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9292615 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature