Open AccessThe structure of allozyme and leaf shape variation in isolated, range‐margin populations of the shrub Hippocrepis emerus (Leguminosae)
Author(s) -
Lonn Mikael,
Prentice Honor C.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
ecography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.973
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1600-0587
pISSN - 0906-7590
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0587.1995.tb00130.x
Subject(s) - disjunct , biology , population , range (aeronautics) , subspecies , ecology , shrub , genetic diversity , genetic variation , deserts and xeric shrublands , genetic divergence , divergence (linguistics) , geography , habitat , evolutionary biology , demography , biochemistry , linguistics , materials science , philosophy , sociology , gene , composite material
We investigated allozyme variation and phenotypic variation in leaf shape in 15 populations of the shrub Hippocrepis emerus (Leguminosae) from the three isolated, regional populations in Scandinavia and analysed patterns of differentiation and the hierarchical structuring of diversity on different geographic scales There are pronounced geographic differences between the Norwegian and Swedish isolates of the species and most of the polymorphic allozyme loci show reciprocal fixation in the two isolates The Scandinavian populations of H emerus are not only disjunct on a macrogeographic scale but also show considerable disjunction within regions Within the Oland regional population, a central group of populations shows low levels of Inter‐population differentiation the Gotland group of populations is related to this core group of Oland populations The geographically marginal populations on Oland are spatially isolated and show a higher degree of divergence between populations than does the central group of Oland populations We interpret genetic divergence between the marginal populations in terms of genetic drift ‐ as a result of historical fluctuations in habitat availability and population size