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Australian Journal of Botany Australian Journal of Botany Society
Southern hemisphere botanical ecosystems
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Phylogeographic analyses of Acacia karina (Fabaceae) support long term persistence of populations both on and off banded iron formations

Anna V. Funnekotter A B , Melissa Millar C , Siegfried L. Krauss A B and Paul G. Nevill A D E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Kings Park Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kings Park, WA 6005, Australia.

B School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

C Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, Bentley, Perth, WA 6983, Australia.

D ARC Centre for Mine Site Restoration, Department of Environment and Agriculture, School of Science, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: paul.nevill@curtin.edu.au

Australian Journal of Botany 67(3) 194-204 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT18045
Submitted: 02 March 2018  Accepted: 12 October 2018   Published: 28 November 2018

Abstract

Understanding the response of species to past climatic changes and whether particular areas acted as refugia is critical both to our understanding of the distribution of genetic variation, and for the conservation and/or restoration of species. We used phylogeographical analyses of Acacia karina, a Banded Iron Formation (BIF) associated species, to better understand historical processes in the semiarid midwest region of Western Australia. We specifically examined whether BIF acted as refugia for the species during the colder, dryer periods of the Quaternary. The genetic structure over the entire range of A. karina was assessed using seven nuclear microsatellites (19 populations; n = 371) and 3196 bp of chloroplast sequence (19 populations; n = 190). We found high levels of nuclear and chloroplast genetic diversity and high levels of chloroplast haplotype differentiation. Genetic diversity was higher than expected for such a geographically restricted species, and similarly high levels of nuclear and chloroplast diversity were observed in BIF and non-BIF populations. The chloroplast and nuclear data suggest that BIFs have not acted as climate refugia for A. karina. Instead, long-term persistence of both BIF and non-BIF populations is supported.

Additional keywords: Acacia spp, chloroplasts, conservation genetics, genetic diversity.


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