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Clonal dynamics in western North American aspen (Populus tremuloides).
K E Mock1, C A Rowe, M B Hooten
1Wildland Resources Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA. karen.mock@usu.edu
Clonal aspen (Populus tremuloides) in western North America show surprisingly high genetic diversity, indicating recent sexual reproduction is more significant than previously thought for maintaining populations.
Area of Science:
- Plant reproductive biology
- Population genetics
- Ecology
Background:
- Clonality allows plants to persist longer than sexual reproduction.
- Aspen (Populus tremuloides) in xeric western landscapes were thought to be ancient genets with little sexual reproduction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the genetic diversity and clonal structure of aspen in western North America.
- To determine the relative contributions of sexual vs. asexual reproduction to aspen population dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Synthesized microsatellite data from 1371 aspen ramets across two large sampling grids in Utah.
- Analyzed genetic variation and spatial distribution of distinct genets.
Main Results:
- Discovered a large number of distinct aspen genets, many spatially cohesive but some fragmented.
- Found evidence that recent sexual reproduction significantly contributes to genetic variation.
- Identified a majority of large genets exhibiting triploidy or aneuploidy, suggesting genetic anomalies.
Conclusions:
- Recent sexual reproduction plays a stronger role in aspen genetic variation than previously assumed.
- Some large aspen clones may not be as ancient as hypothesized.
- Genetic anomalies like triploidy are common in large, spatially clustered aspen genets.
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