Morphometric differentiation of Corex ligerica Gay in Poland

Abstract

The experimental material involved 7 Carex ligerica Gay populations which were cultured in standardised conditions in a greenhouse before their spikes were collected for morphological studies. Four characters reflecting size of male and female glumes, selected from particular spikes were examined. Mahalanobis distances for each pair of populations were calculated and their significance was estimated using Hotellings T2 statistics. Dendrite was constructed on the basis of shortest Mahalanobis distances while Euclidean distances provided grounds for hierarchy grouping. The result obtained from a multivariate analysis indicated a definite interpopulation variability within the species. All of the examined populations were found to differ significantly on the grounds of Mahalanobis distances. The dendrograms manifested the distinct character of the populations originating from regions around the lower course of the Vistula river - 5 (Toruń-Wrzosy), 3 (Tychnowy), 2 (Piaski) and 6 (Kadyny), not noted before. Moreover, similarity of two geographically distant populations, the population 1 (Złotoria) from the Central Poland and the population 4 (Szumiłowo) from the western part of the country, attracted attention, as well as the individual character of the population 7 (Kopanica) originating from the southernmost location. From the point of view of historical geography of plants, the obtained differentiation pattern may represent sequele of migration in the postglacial period, which crossed the area of Poland along multiple distinct pathways. The obtained results point to importance of culturing plants in uniform conditions of a greenhouse, which permits to describe genetic variability unbiased by modifying effects of the environment.

Keywords

• Carex ligerica Gay
• morphometric differentiation
• female and male glumes
• greenhouse culture
• multivariate analysis