Journal of Heredity Advance Access originally published online on August 30, 2007
Journal of Heredity 2007 98(6):587-593; doi:10.1093/jhered/esm075
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Genetic Insights into the Biogeography of the Southeastern North American Endemic, Ceratiola ericoides (Empetraceae)
From the Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 (Trapnell); Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 (Schmidt); Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816 (Quintana-Ascencio); and Departments of Plant Biology and Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 (Hamrick)
Address correspondence to D. W. Trapnell at address above, or e-mail: dorset{at}plantbio.uga.edu.
The southeastern United States harbors an unusually large number of endemic plant taxa, which may reflect the refugial nature of the region during Pleistocene glacial maxima. Understanding the genetic diversity and structure of extant plant taxa can provide insights into the biogeographical processes that shaped them genetically. Here, we investigate the levels and partitioning of allozyme diversity in the southeastern North American endemic, Ceratiola ericoides, which displayed greater genetic variation and structure than other endemics. Central Florida populations represent a center of genetic diversity, whereas South Carolina and Georgia Fall Line sandhill populations have a subset of the Central Florida genetic diversity and may be relicts of a once continuous distribution. This much broader, continuous distribution throughout the southeastern United States occurred during glacial maxima when the scrub habitat, dominated by C. ericoides, expanded considerably owing to drier climatic conditions. Georgia Coastal Plain populations appear to have been independently founded more recently by propagules from Central Florida and the Fall Line sandhills because they have an even more limited subset of genetic diversity and greater genetic heterogeneity among populations. Since their establishment, coastal plain populations appear to have had little, if any, gene exchange among each other or with the relatively proximate Fall Line sandhill populations. These data underscore the importance of understanding the genetic composition and historical biogeography of species before intelligent management or restoration decisions can be made regarding their preservation.
Corresponding Editor: David Wagner
Received February 21, 2007
Accepted July 9, 2007
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D. W. Trapnell, J. P. Schmidt, and J. L. Hamrick Spatial Genetic Structure of the Southeastern North American Endemic, Ceratiola ericoides (Empetraceae) J. Hered., November 1, 2008; 99(6): 604 - 609. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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