Clonal reproduction is an important strategy for the establishment, expansion and persistence of many plant species. It is well-documented in Populus spp. Populus tremula (European Aspen) is a native species in Ireland, a pioneer which has persisted from the early Holocene to the present. Our main aim was to determine whether clonal and genetic diversity across Irish populations of P. tremula , are lower compared to population...

Climate change poses a significant threat to the survival of many species. Although protected areas can slow down biodiversity loss, they often lack systematic planning and do not integrate genetic diversity. Genetic diversity is a key prerequisite for species survival and the ability to tolerate new conditions. Using population genetic and distribution data from 96 plant species in the Third Pole (encompassing the Tibetan Pla...

Hedgerows are an important component of agricultural landscapes, but in recent years have increasingly faced threats such as habitat loss, land use change, climate change, invasive species, pests and plant pathogens. Given the potential importance of genetic diversity in countering these threats, and the spatial distribution of such diversity within and across natural populations, we analyzed levels and patterns of diversity i...

Dispersal is a fundamental ecological process, yet demonstrating the occurrence and importance of long‐distance dispersal ( LDD ) remains difficult, having rarely been examined for widespread, non‐coastal plants. To address this issue, we integrated phylogenetic, molecular dating, biogeographical, ecological, seed biology and oceanographic data for the inland Urticaceae. We found that Urticaceae originated in Eurasia c . 69 Ma...

Aim We used a combination of modelling and genetic approaches to investigate whether Pinguicula grandiflora and Saxifraga spathularis , two species that exhibit disjunct Lusitanian distributions, may have persisted through the Last Glacial Maximum ( LGM , c . 21 ka) in separate northern and southern refugia. Location Northern and eastern Spain and south‐western Ireland. Methods Palaeodistribution modelling using Maxent was use...

Aim The distribution of the Lusitanian flora and fauna, species which are found only in southern and western Ireland and in northern Spain and Portugal but which are absent from intervening countries, represents one of the classic conundrums of biogeography. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the distribution of the Lusitanian plant species Daboecia cantabrica was due to persistence in separate Irish and Ibe...

Previous phylogeographical and palaeontological studies on the biota of northern North America have revealed a complex scenario of glacial survival in multiple refugia and differing patterns of postglacial recolonization. Many putative refugial regions have been proposed both north and south of the ice sheets for species during the Last Glacial Maximum, but the locations of many of these refugia remain a topic of great debate....

Phylogeography has provided a new approach to the analysis of the postglacial history of a wide range of taxa but, to date, little is known about the effect of glacial periods on the marine biota of Europe. We have utilized a combination of nuclear, plastid and mitochondrial genetic markers to study the biogeographic history of the red seaweed Palmaria palmata in the North Atlantic. Analysis of the nuclear rDNA operon (ITS1‐5....

The spread of nonindigenous species into new habitats is having a drastic effect on natural ecosystems and represents an increasing threat to global biodiversity. In the marine environment, where data on the movement of invasive species is scarce, the spread of alien seaweeds represents a particular problem. We have employed a combination of plastid microsatellite markers and DNA sequence data from three regions of the plastid...

In Europe, the last 20 years have seen a spectacular increase in accidental introductions of marine species, but it has recently been suggested that both the actual number of invaders and their impacts have been seriously underestimated because of the prevalence of sibling species in marine habitats. The red alga Polysiphonia harveyi is regarded as an alien in the British Isles and Atlantic Europe, having appeared in various l...