Genetic diversity is essential for maintaining healthy populations and ecosystems. Several approaches have recently been developed to evaluate population genetic trends without necessarily collecting new genetic data. Such “genetic diversity indicators” enable rapid, large-scale evaluation across dozens to thousands of species. Empirical genetic studies, when available, provide detailed information that is important for manage...

Aim To examine the phylogeography of Ficus insipida subsp. insipida in order to investigate patterns of spatial genetic structure across the Neotropics and within Amazonia. Location Neotropics. Methods Plastid DNA ( trn H– psb A; 410 individuals from 54 populations) and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer ( ITS ; 85 individuals from 27 populations) sequences were sampled from Mexico to Bolivia, representing the full...

We studied the phylogeography of Chinese yew ( Taxus wallichiana ), a tree species distributed over most of southern China and adjacent regions. A total of 1235 individuals from 50 populations from China and North Vietnam were analysed for chloroplast DNA variation using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism of the trn L‐F intron‐spacer region. A total of 19 different haplotypes were distinguished....

The genus Epipactis contains a problematical complex of autogamous taxa among which species limits are difficult to define. Different authors have treated these plants in different ways, some recognizing the different taxa as distinct species, others considering them as minor intraspecific variants. These contrasting treatments have a direct impact on the conservation resources and status such plants command; ‘endemic orchid s...

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPDs) and inter‐simple sequence repeats (inter‐SSRs) have been used to study clonal growth and hybridization in some non‐native, gynodioecious, invasive weeds from the genus Fallopia (Polygonaceae). At the study site (the River Kelvin, Glasgow, UK) a single genotype of Japanese knotweed ( Fallopia japonica ) was detected, consistent with all the individuals sampled being ramets of a single cl...