Molecular genetic variation following a population crash in the endangered Mauna Kea silversword, Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp. sandwicense (Aseraceae)
- Author:
- Friar, E.A., Robichaux, R.H., Mount, D.W.
- Title:
- Molecular genetic variation following a population crash in the endangered Mauna Kea silversword, Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp. sandwicense (Aseraceae)
- Periodical:
- Molecular Ecology
- Year:
- 1996
- Volume:
- 5
- Pages:
- 687-691
- Subject:
- Silverswords Mauna Kea Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp.sandwicense Silverswords Haleakala Predation Ahinahina Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp.macrocephalum
- Summary:
- Due to the predation by alien ungulates, this document describes the severe decline in distribution and abundance of the Mauna Kea silversword, (the Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp. sandwicense (Asteraceae) that consists of only 46 individuals). This plant species is compare to the large, vigorous population of the Haleakala silversword, (A. sandwicense ssp. macrocephalum), that exceeds 60,000 individuals on the island of Maui. Here, molecular genetic variation in the two populations of silverswords were assessed through the use of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) loci through which it was found that despite its severe crash in size, the Mauna Kea population did not differ significantly from the Haleakala population in the number of dectectably polymorphic loci or in heterozygosity. This research suggests that the lack of substantial reduction in genetic variation, (as based on measurements that were done with RAPD loci), may be due to the Mauna Kea population not having yet gone through multiple generations at very small sizes.
- Label:
- Silverswords
- URL:
- http://cletus.uhh.hawaii.edu:2074/10.1111/j.1365-294X.1996.tb00363.x
- Date:
- October 1996
- Collection:
- Periodicals