The link between genetic diversity and species diversity: patterns and processes in grassland plants

物种多样性（SD）和遗传多样性（GD）是生物多样性的基本层次，涵盖从基因到生态系统的各个层面。因此，可持续管理和土地利用必须同时针对可持续发展目标和经济发展目标。然而，尽管有一些潜在的联系，但这两者大多是独立研究的。我们建议在生物多样性探索的框架内分析欧洲文化草地生态系统中SD和GD之间的联系模式和过程。我们专注于分子标记和中性过程，如基因流动和漂移，允许在景观水平上分析历史和当前的过程。首先，采用多位点、多物种的方法，分析了9个草地物种3个功能类群的物种多样性与中性分子标记（AFLP）遗传多样性的相关规律。我们假设物种和遗传多样性之间的正相关关系取决于定殖/灭绝和基因流动/漂移平衡。因此，我们期望在具有低到中等扩散能力的物种中发现这种相关性。其次，在GIS平台上，我们将景观结构和土地利用强度与相同的9种草地物种的遗传多样性联系起来。因此，利用景观遗传学方法，我们确定了当前和历史的景观特征，这些特征对GD和SD的维持至关重要。我们假设历史栖息地的连续性比当前景观结构更重要。第三，我们研究了通过授粉促进直接连接SD和GD的过程的结果。我们测试了实验低密度目标植物之间的传粉和结种以及基因流动是否受到传粉依赖植物物种的常驻物种多样性的促进。我们假设传粉促进存在，但取决于传粉者特异性的植物传粉综合征。

Species diversity (SD) and genetic diversity (GD) are fundamental levels of biodiversity that span from genes to ecosystems. Thus, sustainable management and land use must target both, SD and GD. However, the two have mostly been studied independently, despite a number of potential connections. We propose to analyze patterns and processes linking SD and GD in European cultural grassland ecosystems within the framework of the biodiversity exploratories. We focus on molecular markers and neutral processes like gene flow and drift which allow to analyze historic and current processes at the landscape level. First, in a multi-site and multi-species approach we analyze correlation patterns between species diversity of grassland sites and genetic diversity at neutral molecular markers (AFLP) of nine grassland species from three functional groups. We hypothesize that positive correlations between species and genetic diversity depend on colonization/extinction and gene-flow/drift equilibria. Thus, we expect to find such correlations for species with low to intermediate dispersal capacity. Second, we relate landscape structure and land use intensity to genetic diversity in the same nine grassland species within a GIS platform. Using a landscape genetics approach we thus identify landscape features, both current and historic, that are critical for the maintenance of GD and SD. We hypothesize that historic habitat continuity is more important than current landscape structure for both SD and GD. Third, we investigate the outcome of a process that directly links SD and GD via pollination facilitation. We test whether pollination and seed set of, and gene flow among experimental low density target plants is facilitated by resident species diversity of pollinator-dependent plant species. We hypothesize that pollination facilitation exists but depends on the pollinator specificity of the plant pollination syndrome.