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Disturbance by mowing affects clonal diversity: the genetic structure of Ranunculus ficaria (Ranunculuaceae) in meadows and forests

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Herbaceous Plant Ecology

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Abstract

To study the impact of disturbance by mowing on clonal variation, we compared the genetic structure of Ranunculus ficaria (Ranunculaceae) in meadows and forests located in southeast Germany. We applied random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis to investigate the clonal and genetic diversity and analysed a total of 117 samples from three study plots in each habitat type. Polymerase chain reaction with six primers resulted in 57 fragments. Clonal diversity differed clearly between the two analysed habitat types and was significantly higher in the study plots from meadows than in those from forests. The mean percentage of distinguishable genotypes (PD) was 0.80 in meadow plots and 0.36 in forest plots, and the detected genets were smaller in meadow plots than in forest plots. Mean genetic diversity measured as percentage of polymorphic bands, Shannon’s information index and Nei’s gene diversity was also higher in meadows (44.4, 0.22 and 0.14) than in forests (25.1, 0.09 and 0.05). The higher level of clonal diversity in meadow plots is most likely due to the effects of disturbance by mowing, which increases the dispersal of bulbils and promotes the establishment of new plants in meadows compared to forests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Botany, University of Regensburg, 93040, Regensburg, Germany

    Christoph Reisch & Sebastian Scheitler

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  1. Christoph Reisch
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  2. Sebastian Scheitler
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Correspondence to Christoph Reisch .

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  1. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, 141 Bessey Hall, Ames, IA, 50011-1020, USA

    A. G. Van der Valk

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Reisch, C., Scheitler, S. (2008). Disturbance by mowing affects clonal diversity: the genetic structure of Ranunculus ficaria (Ranunculuaceae) in meadows and forests. In: Van der Valk, A.G. (eds) Herbaceous Plant Ecology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2798-6_28

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