Population Demographic History of a Rare and Endangered Tree Magnolia sprengeri Pamp. in East Asia Revealed by Molecular Data and Ecological Niche Analysis

Quaternary climate and environment oscillations have profoundly shaped the population dynamic history and geographic distributions of current plants. However, how the endangered and rare tree species respond to the climatic and environmental fluctuations in the subtropical regions of China in East Asia still needs elucidation. In this study, we collected 36 natural populations of an endangered and rare tree species Magnolia sprengeri Pamp. in subtropical China to determine the demographic history, and modeled the changes of geographic distributions of this species in East Asia based on the MaxEnt ecological niche analyses. In addition, we sequenced three maternally inherited chloroplast DNA fragments (matK, trnH-psbA, and rbcL) for all the natural populations which covered the whole geographic distributions of M. sprengeri. Population genetic analysis showed that the endangered tree species have a low level of chloroplast DNA diversity. However, the genetic variation contribution within populations was greater than that among populations (FST = 0.276), which demonstrated a high level of genetic differentiation. Interestingly, some unique chloroplast DNA haplotypes and higher genetic variations were identified in the Qinling-Daba Mountains, Central China, and Tianmu Mountains of Zhejiang province, East of China in East Asia. Combining with the species distribution modeling, we speculated that these areas might be the potential glacial refugia for the endangered plant M. sprengeri. Phylogeographic analysis demonstrated that the geographic factors (e.g., mountains, rivers, and other isolation barriers) had little effect on the genetic divergence among populations. Ecological niche modeling further revealed that the natural populations of M. sprengeri did not experience significant geographic distribution changes from the last glacial maximum to the present time. These findings are in line with the analysis results of the multimodal mismatch patterns of the chloroplast DNA variations. To protect the endangered species M. sprengeri, in situ and ex situ conservation strategies should be formulated for the natural populations with higher genetic variations.

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Ecological niche modelling for predicting the habitat suitability of endangered tree species Taxus contorta Griff. in Himachal Pradesh (Western Himalayas, India)

Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1007/s42965-021-00200-2 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Saurav Chauhan ◽

Shankharoop Ghoshal ◽

K. S. Kanwal ◽

Vikas Sharma ◽

G. Ravikanth

Keyword(s):

Tree Species ◽

Habitat Suitability ◽

Ecological Niche ◽

Himachal Pradesh ◽

Ecological Niche Modelling ◽

Western Himalayas ◽

Niche Modelling ◽

Endangered Tree ◽

Endangered Tree Species

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Role of ploidy in colonization of alpine habitats in natural populations of Arabidopsis arenosa

Annals of Botany ◽

10.1093/aob/mcz070 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 124 (2) ◽

pp. 255-268 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Guillaume Wos ◽

Jana Mořkovská ◽

Magdalena Bohutínská ◽

Gabriela Šrámková ◽

Adam Knotek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecological Niche ◽

Demographic History ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

Niche Differentiation ◽

Mountain Range ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Genome Doubling ◽

Arabidopsis Arenosa

Abstract Background and Aims Polyploidy is an important driver of plant diversification and adaptation to novel environments. As a consequence of genome doubling, polyploids often exhibit greater colonizing ability or occupy a wider ecological niche than diploids. Although elevation has been traditionally considered as a key driver structuring ploidy variation, we do not know if environmental and phenotypic differentiation among ploidy cytotypes varies along an elevational gradient. Here, we tested for the consequences of genome duplication on genetic diversity, phenotypic variation and habitat preferences on closely related diploid and tetraploid populations that coexist along approx. 2300 m of varying elevation. Methods We sampled and phenotyped 45 natural diploid and tetraploid populations of Arabidopsis arenosa in one mountain range in Central Europe (Western Carpathians) and recorded abiotic and biotic variables at each collection site. We inferred genetic variation, population structure and demographic history in a sub-set of 29 populations genotyped for approx. 36 000 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Key Results We found minor effects of polyploidy on colonization of alpine stands and low genetic differentiation between the two cytotypes, mirroring recent divergence of the polyploids from the local diploid lineage and repeated reticulation events among the cytotypes. This pattern was corroborated by the absence of ecological niche differentiation between the two cytotypes and overall phenotypic similarity at a given elevation. Conclusions The case of A. arenosa contrasts with previous studies that frequently showed clear niche differentiation between cytotypes. Our work stresses the importance of considering genetic structure and past demographic processes when interpreting the patterns of ploidy distributions, especially in species that underwent recent polyploidization events.

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Discovery of novel SSR markers from transcriptome data of Astronium fraxinifolium Schott, a threatened tree species in Brazil

10.21203/rs.3.rs-65083/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Maiara Cornacini ◽

Ricardo Oliveira Manoel ◽

Marcelo Alcantara ◽

Mário Moraes ◽

Edvaldo Silva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ssr Markers ◽

Tree Species ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Transcriptome Data ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Endangered Tree ◽

Genetic Studies ◽

Endangered Tree Species ◽

Ssr Loci ◽

First Time

Abstract Background Astronium fraxinifolium is an endangered tree species from Brazil. Due to its high importance for environmental reforestation, as well as for the use of its wood, it is necessary to implement management programs for conservation of this species. Simple sequence repeats (SSR) or microsatellite markers have been widely used in population genetic studies across diverse organisms. In this study, we reported for the first time SSR markers for A. fraxinifolium as well as its frequency and distribution from transcriptome data. Results More than 125 thousand RNA-seq sequences derived microsatellites, with predominant distribution of trinucleotides repeats. From the initial screening, we selected 20 microsatellite loci, validated and evaluated genetic indexes in two natural populations. All loci were polymorphic, ranging from four to eleven alleles per locus. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0 to 1.0 and from 0.533 to 1.0, respectively. Genetic differentiation between populations (= 0.363) showed higher diversity within than among populations. Conclusions The developed SSR loci from RNA-seq consists in a base for future studies of genetic diversity and population structure, mating system and gene flow in A. fraxinifolium populations as well as related species, aiming the conservation and management of the species.

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Ecological niche modeling and local knowledge predict new populations of Gymnocladus assamicus a critically endangered tree species

Endangered Species Research ◽

10.3354/esr00275 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

pp. 175-181 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

S Menon ◽

BI Choudhury ◽

ML Khan ◽

A Townsend Peterson

Keyword(s):

Local Knowledge ◽

Tree Species ◽

Ecological Niche ◽

Ecological Niche Modeling ◽

Niche Modeling ◽

Critically Endangered ◽

Endangered Tree ◽

Endangered Tree Species

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Genetic diversity of natural populations of Machilus thunbergii, an endangered tree species in eastern China, determined with ISSR analysis

Genetics and Molecular Research ◽

10.4238/2013.march.11.10 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 3689-3697 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J. Liu ◽

H.G. Sun ◽

J.M. Jiang ◽

W.H. Shao ◽

Q.F. Luan

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Tree Species ◽

Eastern China ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Endangered Tree ◽

Issr Analysis ◽

Endangered Tree Species ◽

Machilus Thunbergii

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Floristic Variation of Tree Communities and Their Association with Soil Properties in Pulau Jerejak, Penang, Peninsular Malaysia

Science Letters ◽

10.24191/sl.v14i1.7899 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 34

Author(s):

Faezah Pardi

Keyword(s):

Tree Species ◽

Diversity Index ◽

Basal Area ◽

Peninsular Malaysia ◽

Importance Value ◽

Conservation Action ◽

Endangered Tree ◽

Endangered Tree Species ◽

Tree Communities ◽

Floristic Variation

This study was conducted at Pulau Jerejak, Penang to determine the floristic variation of its tree communities. A 0.5-hectare study plot was established and divided into 11 subplots. A total of 587 trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) of 5 cm and above were measured, identified and recorded. The tree communities comprised of 84 species, 63 genera and 32 families. The Myrtaceae was the most speciose family with 10 recorded species while Syzgium glaucum (Myrtaceae) was the most frequent species. The Myrtaceae recorded the highest density of 306 individuals while Syzgium glaucum (Myrtaceae) had the highest species density of 182 individuals. Total tree basal area (BA) was 21.47 m2/ha and family with the highest BA was Myrtaceae with 5.81 m2/ha while at species level, Syzgium glaucum (Myrtaceae) was the species with the highest total BA in the plot with value of 4.95 m2/ha. The Shannon˗Weiner Diversity Index of tree communities showed a value of 3.60 (H'max = 4.43) and Evenness Index of 0.81 which indicates high uniformity of tree species. The Margalef Richness Index (R') revealed that the tree species richness was 13.02. Myrtaceae had the highest Importance Value of 20.4%. The Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed that Diospyros buxifolia (Ebenaceae) and Pouteria malaccensis (Sapotaceae) were strongly correlated to low pH. Dysoxylum cauliflorum (Meliaceae) and Eriobotrya bengalensis (Rosaceae) were correlated to phosphorus (P) and calcium ion (Ca2+), respectively. Therefore, the trees species composition at Pulau Jerejak showed that the biodiversity is high and conservation action should be implemented to protect endangered tree species. Keywords: Floristic variation; Tree communities; Trees composition; Pulau Jerejak; Species diversity

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