Abstract
PREMISE: Prairies are among the most threatened biomes due to changing patterns of climate and land use, yet information on genetic variation in key species that would inform conservation is often limited. We assessed evidence for the geographic scale of population-level variation in growth of two species of prairie clover and of their symbiotic associations with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. METHODS: Seed representing two species, Dalea candida and D. purpurea, from the same five source populations were planted into an experimental site in Minnesota. We assessed variation within and among source populations in plant growth and in numbers of nodules and evaluated the relationship of growth and nodulation levels. RESULTS: Plant growth varied among source populations, with greater differences among populations of D. purpurea than of D. candida. We did not detect a relationship between plant growth and distance of source populations from the experimental site. Populations of both species were equally likely to develop nodules at the experimental site, but the numbers of nodules were lowest for the most distantly sourced populations. Plant growth was positively correlated with the number of nodules, and this relationship varied considerably within and among populations. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental heterogeneity at local and regional scales maintains substantial levels of genetic variation in plant populations within remnant prairie preserves. Further, association with rhizobia at a restoration site can improve growth of widely sourced plant populations. The in situ maintenance of plant genetic variation and species diversity provides resources for conservation and maintenance of prairie biomes.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Plant growth differed more among source populations of D. purpurea than of D. candida
- Taxon
- D. purpurea
Dalea purpureae1 - Material
- source populationse1
- Outcome
- Plant growthe1
- Qualifier
- greater differences among populations of D. purpurea than of D. candidae1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Plant growth varied among source populations, with greater differences among populations of D. purpurea than of D. candida”
Claim · model-written summary
Plant growth was not related to distance of source populations from the experimental site
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e2“We did not detect a relationship between plant growth and distance of source populations from the experimental site”
t0“prairie clover”
Claim · model-written summary
Populations of both species were equally likely to develop nodules at the experimental site
Verbatim
e3“Populations of both species were equally likely to develop nodules at the experimental site”
t0“prairie clover”
Claim · model-written summary
Nodule numbers were lowest for the most distantly sourced populations
Verbatim
e4“the numbers of nodules were lowest for the most distantly sourced populations”
t0“prairie clover”
Claim · model-written summary
Plant growth was positively correlated with nodule number, and this relationship varied within and among populations
Verbatim
e5“Plant growth was positively correlated with the number of nodules, and this relationship varied considerably within and among populations”
t0“prairie clover”
Claim · model-written summary
Environmental heterogeneity at local and regional scales maintains substantial genetic variation in plant populations within remnant prairie preserves
Verbatim
e6“Environmental heterogeneity at local and regional scales maintains substantial levels of genetic variation in plant populations within remnant prairie preserves”
t0“prairie clover”
Claim · model-written summary
Association with rhizobia at a restoration site can improve growth of widely sourced plant populations
Verbatim
e7“association with rhizobia at a restoration site can improve growth of widely sourced plant populations”
t0“prairie clover”