Abstract
Thalictrum cooleyi (Cooley's meadowrue, Ranunculaceae) is a federally endangered dioecious herb of wet pine savannas of the southeastern United States. We studied aspects of T. cooleyi biology crucial to conservation including its association with woody species, reproduction, and genetic structure in 11 populations in North Carolina and Georgia. Thalictrum cooleyi presence was negatively associated with canopy closure, but positively associated with shrub cover, including wax myrtle Morella cerifera. Deviations from strict dioecy are uncommon in T. cooleyi. Sex ratios differed significantly from 1:1, but despite male-bias in populations, pollen supplementation experiments found evidence for pollen limitation to seed set. Seeds are dormant at maturity. Cold stratification or gibberellic acid can break dormancy. Warm temperatures followed by cold stratification may increase germinability. Germination rates were low, likely due to low seed viability. Thalictrum cooleyi can be propagated vegetatively from caudex and rhizome divisions. AFLP analyses suggested that genetic diversity within and among populations is low. North Carolina and Georgia populations are genetically distinct, yet these limited data do not support hypotheses of separate species status or hybrid swarms. Our work suggests that habitat loss (i.e., transition of open pine savanna to dense forest), pollen limitation of seed set, poor seed viability, and possibly low genetic diversity within populations are major challenges to the recovery of T. cooleyi.
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Claims 14
Claim · model-written summary
Presence declined with canopy closure.
- Taxon
- Thalictrum cooleyi
Thalictrum cooleyie0 - Outcome
- presencee0
- Direction
- negatively associatede0
- Setting
- canopy closuree0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Thalictrum cooleyi presence was negatively associated with canopy closure”
Claim · model-written summary
Presence rose with shrub cover including wax myrtle.
- Taxon
- Thalictrum cooleyiThalictrum cooleyie0
- Interactor
- Morella cerifera
Morella ceriferae0other - Outcome
- presencee0
- Direction
- positively associatede0
- Setting
- shrub covere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Thalictrum cooleyi presence was negatively associated with canopy closure, but positively associated with shrub cover, including wax myrtle Morella cerifera”
Claim · model-written summary
Deviations from strict dioecy were uncommon.
- Taxon
- T. cooleyiThalictrum cooleyie0
- Outcome
- Deviations from strict dioecy are uncommone0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Deviations from strict dioecy are uncommon in T. cooleyi”
Claim · model-written summary
Sex ratios departed significantly from 1:1.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“Sex ratios differed significantly from 1:1”
Claim · model-written summary
Pollen supplementation indicated pollen limitation of seed set despite male-biased populations.
Not reportedTaxonComparatorDirection
Verbatim
e0“despite male-bias in populations, pollen supplementation experiments found evidence for pollen limitation to seed set”
Claim · model-written summary
Seeds were dormant at maturity.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“Seeds are dormant at maturity”
Claim · model-written summary
Cold stratification broke seed dormancy.
Not reportedTaxonComparator
Verbatim
e0“Cold stratification or gibberellic acid can break dormancy”
Claim · model-written summary
Gibberellic acid broke seed dormancy.
Not reportedTaxonComparator
Verbatim
e0“Cold stratification or gibberellic acid can break dormancy”
Claim · model-written summary
Warm temperatures followed by cold stratification may improve germinability.
- Treatment
- Warm temperatures followed by cold stratificatione0
- Outcome
- germinabilitye0
- Direction
- increasee0
Not reportedTaxonComparator
Verbatim
e0“Warm temperatures followed by cold stratification may increase germinability”
Claim · model-written summary
Germination rates were low, likely because seed viability was low.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“Germination rates were low, likely due to low seed viability”
Claim · model-written summary
Caudex and rhizome divisions allowed vegetative propagation.
- Taxon
- Thalictrum cooleyiThalictrum cooleyie0
- Treatment
- caudex and rhizome divisionse0
- Outcome
- propagated vegetativelye0
Not reportedComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Thalictrum cooleyi can be propagated vegetatively from caudex and rhizome divisions”
Claim · model-written summary
Within and among population genetic diversity was low.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“AFLP analyses suggested that genetic diversity within and among populations is low”
Claim · model-written summary
North Carolina and Georgia populations were genetically distinct.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“North Carolina and Georgia populations are genetically distinct”
Claim · model-written summary
Limited genetic data did not support separate species or hybrid swarm hypotheses.
- Outcome
- do not support hypotheses of separate species status or hybrid swarmse0
- Qualifier
- limited datae0
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“these limited data do not support hypotheses of separate species status or hybrid swarms”