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Variable clonality and genetic structure among disjunct populations of Banksia mimica

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Abstract

Various factors influence patterns of genetic diversity within and between populations that are important considerations for plant conservation. Both clonality and population genetic differentiation are key factors informing conservation actions, especially for rare species. Banksia mimica is a rare species that occurs in three disjunct locations in the biodiversity hotspot of the southwest Australian Floristic Region of Western Australia. Extant populations are suspected to have varying levels of clonality and high levels of genetic differentiation due to geographic disjunction. A genetic analysis was undertaken in order to confirm clonal reproduction and obtain initial estimates of genotypic diversity, and to assess genetic diversity within, and genetic structure among, populations. Genotypic richness ranged from 0.210 to 1.00 supporting observations in the field of variable degrees of clonal growth. The most clonal populations showed genetic signals of greater levels of observed heterozygosity than expected heterozygosity and negative FIS values that were not present in other populations of B. mimica or populations of the nonclonal sister taxon B. vestita. There was strong genetic structure with high genetic divergence among geographically disjunct population groups (global FST = 0.392, DST = 0.475), as is often found within the Australian flora. Genetic differentiation among disjunct populations located on the Whicher Scarp and more northern populations approached, or was greater than, that between Whicher populations and populations of the sister taxa B. vestita. This result is consistent with several other species that show genetic differentiation in disjunct populations located on the Whicher Scarp geomorphological formation. Results suggest a reassessment of the taxonomy and identification of evolutionary significant units for populations of B. mimica would support effective conservation management of this species.

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Data availability

The data sets generated during and/or anlaysed during the current study are available in the Dryad Digital Repository (doi available on publication).

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  1. Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, Bentley, Perth, WA, 6983, Australia

    Melissa A. Millar & Margaret Byrne

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  1. Melissa A. Millar
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MB conceived the research; MAM and MB designed the research and performed the fieldwork; MAM performed the laboratory work, analysed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Melissa A. Millar.

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Millar, M.A., Byrne, M. Variable clonality and genetic structure among disjunct populations of Banksia mimica. Conserv Genet 21, 803–818 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-020-01288-0

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