Plant Conservation and Population Biology, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium.
Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, 51005, Tartu, Estonia.
BMC Ecol Evol. 2021 Nov 5;21(1):200. doi: 10.1186/s12862-021-01928-0.
Ecosystem restoration is as a critical tool to counteract the decline of biodiversity and recover vital ecosystem services. Restoration efforts, however, often fall short of meeting their goals. Although functionally important levels of biodiversity can significantly contribute to the outcome of ecosystem restoration, they are often overlooked. One such important facet of biodiversity is within-species genetic diversity, which is fundamental to population fitness and adaptation to environmental change. Also the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), obligate root symbionts that regulate nutrient and carbon cycles, potentially plays a vital role in mediating ecosystem restoration outcome. In this study, we investigated the relative contribution of intraspecific population genetic diversity, AMF diversity, and their interaction, to population recovery of Succisa pratensis, a key species of nutrient poor semi natural grasslands. We genotyped 180 individuals from 12 populations of S. pratensis and characterized AMF composition in their roots, using microsatellite markers and next generation amplicon sequencing, respectively. We also investigated whether the genetic makeup of the host plant species can structure the composition of root-inhabiting AMF communities.
Our analysis revealed that population allelic richness was strongly positively correlated to relative population growth, whereas AMF richness and its interaction with population genetic diversity did not significantly contribute. The variation partitioning analysis showed that, after accounting for soil and spatial variables, the plant genetic makeup explained a small but significant part of the unique variation in AMF communities.
Our results confirm that population genetic diversity can contribute to population recovery, highlighting the importance of within-species genetic diversity for the success of restoration. We could not find evidence, however, that population recovery benefits from the presence of more diverse AMF communities. Our analysis also showed that the genetic makeup of the host plant structured root-inhabiting AMF communities, suggesting that the plant genetic makeup may be linked to genes that control symbiosis development.
生态系统恢复是对抗生物多样性下降和恢复重要生态系统服务的关键工具。然而，恢复工作往往未能达到目标。尽管具有重要功能的生物多样性水平可以显著促进生态系统恢复的结果，但它们往往被忽视。生物多样性的一个重要方面是种内遗传多样性，它是种群适应环境变化的基础。此外，丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）的多样性，作为调节养分和碳循环的必需根系共生体，可能在调节生态系统恢复结果方面发挥着至关重要的作用。在这项研究中，我们调查了种内种群遗传多样性、AMF 多样性及其相互作用对营养贫瘠半自然草地关键物种 Succisa pratensis 种群恢复的相对贡献。我们使用微卫星标记和下一代扩增子测序分别对来自 12 个 S. pratensis 种群的 180 个个体进行了基因型分析，并对其根系中的 AMF 组成进行了特征分析。我们还调查了宿主植物物种的遗传组成是否可以构建根系栖息 AMF 群落的组成。
我们的分析表明，种群等位基因丰富度与相对种群增长率呈强烈正相关，而 AMF 丰富度及其与种群遗传多样性的相互作用对种群恢复没有显著贡献。变异分位数分析表明，在考虑土壤和空间变量后，植物遗传组成解释了 AMF 群落特有变异的一小部分。
我们的研究结果证实，种群遗传多样性可以促进种群恢复，突出了种内遗传多样性对恢复成功的重要性。然而，我们没有发现证据表明，种群恢复受益于更多样化的 AMF 群落。我们的分析还表明，宿主植物的遗传组成塑造了根系栖息的 AMF 群落，这表明宿主植物的遗传组成可能与控制共生体发育的基因有关。
