Abstract
Arnica montana (Asteraceae) is a herbaceous species with high interest for pharmaceutical industry due its anti-inflammatory properties. However, commercial collection in wild, habitat loss, abandonment of land, reforestation and the ongoing climate change threaten the conservation of the species throughout its natural distribution. Galicia (north-western Spain) is one of the main flower suppliers, but no legislation on A. montana exploitation is currently applied. In order to assess the genetic status and population structure in this region, 27 locations were genotyped for 14 microsatellite loci and sequenced for 2 plastid DNA (cpDNA) markers. The relationship of environmental, biochemical and morphological variables with genetic differentiation was also evaluated. Two different cpDNA groups previously described were found. One of them was widely distributed while the other was restricted to heathlands of the O Courel Mountains. The percentage of clonality was low (< 10%). Genetic diversity based on microsatellites (He = 0.245) was lower than in Central European populations, with high levels of population differentiation (FST = 0.441), suggesting strong effects of genetic drift. Bayesian clustering methods revealed the presence of four genetically distinct population units, one of them corresponding to the O Courel Mountains group described by cpDNA analysis. Environmental and biochemical factors were related to genetic differentiation, suggesting local adaptation. Necessary conservation measures include the overdue implementation of the Habitats Directive by the Galician Regional Administration, establishing sustainable harvesting regimes, and aim to conserve genetic variation in these endangered populations at the southern range edge.
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Acknowledgements
Authors wish to thank M. López, S. Sánchez-Darriba and S. Gómez for laboratory support and R. M. Barros for fieldwork. The authors are also grateful to Dr. W. Durka and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the earlier version of this manuscript. Adrián Casanova was funded by a PhD research fellowship from Xunta de Galicia Autonomous Government (Spain). Graciela Mora was awarded by an IPN (National Polytechnic Insittute) and CONACYT (National Council of Science and Technology) fellowships (Mexico). This study has been supported by Deputación de Lugo (Galicia, Spain) contract (CONSERVARNICA, 2018-CP071).
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Online Resource 1.Arnica montana locations (27) analysed in the present study.
Online Resource 2. Environmental, biochemical and biometric data for the individuals included in this study.
Online Resource 3. Pairwise FST values among analysed locations of Arnica montana.
Online Resource 4. Mean L(K) (± Standard Deviation) over 5 runs at each analysed K.
Online Resource 5. Estimation of the most likely K using the methodology described in Evanno et al. (2005).
Online Resource 6. Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components (DAPC) plot for DF 1 and 3.
Online Resource 7. Pairwise FST values among detected population groups (i.e. K = 4) of Arnica montana. Values on the diagonal show the FST value in each group.
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Vera, M., Mora, G., Rodríguez-Guitián, M.A. et al. Living at the edge: population differentiation in endangered Arnica montana from NW Iberian Peninsula. Plant Syst Evol 306, 44 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-020-01673-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-020-01673-9