Title

Modelling The Effects Of Genetics And Habitat On The Demography Of A Grassland Herb

Keywords

Extinction risk; Grazing; Inbreeding depression; Individual-based models; Population dynamics; Succisa pratensis

Abstract

There is growing evidence that genetic and ecological factors interact in determining population persistence. The demographic effects of inbreeding depression can largely depend on the ecological milieu. We used demographic data of the perennial herb Succisa pratensis from six populations in grazed and ungrazed sites with different soil moisture. We built an individual-based model assessing the demographic consequences of inbreeding depression in populations with different management and habitat. Today this plant has to cope with severe landscape fragmentation, deteriorating habitat conditions in terms of decreasing grazing intensity, and the effects of inbreeding depression. For each population we performed simulations testing two inbreeding depression hypotheses (partial dominance and overdominance) and three epistatic functions among loci. The results indicated stronger inbreeding depression effects for populations in unfavourable sites without grazing or in xeric habitats compared to populations in favourable mesic sites with grazing. Overall, we found stronger effects with overdominance, a result that emphasizes the importance of understanding the genetic mechanisms of inbreeding depression. Hence, management practices can interact with the genetic consequences of inbreeding depression in population dynamics, which may have important implications for plant population ecology and evolutionary dynamics of inbreeding depression. © 2008 Gesellschaft für Ökologie.

Publication Date

3-1-2009

Publication Title

Basic and Applied Ecology

Volume

10

Issue

2

Number of Pages

122-130

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2008.02.006

Socpus ID

59649101121 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/59649101121

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