Svalbard tundra plant splits into two regional groups

Mountain avens (Dryas octopetala), the dominant tundra plant in Svalbard, has formed two regional groups that differ genetically and chemically, one around Longyearbyen and one around Ny-Ålesund, researchers reported on 12 October in the journal BMC Ecology and Evolution.

Moonkyo Kim and seven co-authors sampled 33 plants at seven sites and found 33,010 genetic variants, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms. The populations differed moderately but significantly; 84.6% of the variation lay within populations rather than between them.

The team developed 13 PCR-based markers that tell the two groups apart. Chemical profiling detected 1,466 peaks, and 33 metabolites differed between the regions. The chemical differences matched the genetic pattern, the authors wrote.

Coverage: BMC Ecology and Evolution, Bioengineer