Assessing ex situ genetic and ecogeographic conservation in a threatened but widespread oak after range-wide collecting effort.

ABSTRACT: Although the genetic diversity and structure of in situ populations has been investigated in thousands of studies, the genetic composition of ex situ plant populations has rarely been studied. A better understanding of how much genetic diversity is conserved ex situ, how it is distributed among locations (e.g., botanic gardens), and what minimum sample sizes are needed is necessary to improve conservation outcomes. Here we address these issues in a threatened desert oak species, Quercus havardii Rydb. We assess the genetic, geographic, and ecological representation of 290 plants from eight ex situ locations, relative to 667 wild individuals from 35 in situ locations. We also leverage a recent dataset of >3000 samples from 11 other threatened plants to directly compare the degree of

SUBMITTER: Zumwalde BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9234636 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature