Abstract
Population reintroduction is a common practice in conservation, but often fails, also due to the effects of inbreeding or outbreeding depression. Cochlearia bavarica is a strongly endangered plant species endemic to Bavaria in Germany, constantly declining since the late 1980s. Therefore, population reintroduction is intended. In this study, we analyzed genetic diversity within and genetic differentiation between all 32 remnant populations of the species in Swabia and Upper Bavaria using amplified fragment length polymorphisms. Our aim was to increase reintroduction success by providing data to avoid negative effects of inbreeding and outbreeding and to preserve the natural genetic pattern of the species. Genetic diversity within populations was low but similar to other rare and endemic species and varied strongly between populations but did not depend on population size. Our analysis revealed a strong geographic pattern of genetic variation. Genetic differentiation was strongest between Swabia and Upper Bavaria and at the population level, whereas differentiation between subpopulations was comparatively low. Isolation by distance and genetic differentiation was stronger among populations from Upper Bavaria than from Swabia. From the results of our study, we derived recommendations for a successful reintroduction of the species. We suggest using rather genetically variable than large populations as reintroduction sources. Moreover, the exchange of plant material between Swabia and Upper Bavaria should be completely avoided. Within these regions, plant material from genetically similar populations should preferably be used for reintroduction, whereas the exchange among subpopulations seems to be possible without a negative impact on genetic variation due to natural gene flow.
Highlights
The loss of plant species is a worldwide problem, mainly due to land use changes (Maurer, Weyand, Fischer, & Stöcklin, 2006; Poschlod, Bakker, & Kahmen, 2005) such as agricultural intensification (Storkey, Meyer, Still, & Leuschner, 2012) and abandonment of traditional management methods (Poschlod & WallisDeVries, 2002)
Even though the level of fragmentation and isolation is stronger in Upper Bavaria than in Swabia, we observed in our study no significant differences in genetic diversity between populations from the two study regions
The aim of this study was to increase the success of future population reintroduction and reinforcement, by providing data to avoid negative effects of inbreeding and outbreeding and to preserve the natural genetic pattern of the species
Summary
The loss of plant species is a worldwide problem, mainly due to land use changes (Maurer, Weyand, Fischer, & Stöcklin, 2006; Poschlod, Bakker, & Kahmen, 2005) such as agricultural intensification (Storkey, Meyer, Still, & Leuschner, 2012) and abandonment of traditional management methods (Poschlod & WallisDeVries, 2002). The associated process of habitat fragmentation intensifies the loss of plant species (Fahrig, 2003; Schleunig, Niggemann, Becker, & Matthies, 2009), because small and isolated remnant populations suffer from a higher extinction probability (Matthies, Brauer, Maibom, & Tscharntke, 2004). Population reintroduction, comprising reintroduction in the narrow sense, reinforcement, and translocation (Akeroyd & Wyse, 1995), is a common practice in conservation to alleviate the proceeding loss of plant species. The aim of population reintroduction is to establish genetically variable populations, to increase gene flow (Akeroyd & Wyse, 1995; Betz, Scheuerer, & Reisch, 2013; Godefroid et al, 2011) and to minimize the probability of population extinction (Vergeer, van den Berg, Roelofs, & Ouborg, 2005)
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