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Morphological and genetic variations of Potentilla matsumurae (Rosaceae) between fellfield and snowbed populations.

Identifying ecological factors associated with local differentiation of populations is important for understanding microevolutionary processes. Alpine environments offer a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of habitat-specific selective forces and gene flow limitations among populations at a microscale on local adaptation because the heterogeneous snowmelt patterns in alpine ecosystems provide steep environmental changes. We investigated the variation in morphological traits and enzyme loci between fellfield and snowbed populations of Potentilla matsumurae, a common alpine herb with a wide distribution along snowmelt gradients in northern Japan. We found significant differences in morphological traits between fellfield and snowbed habitats in a northern distribution region. These differences were maintained when plants were grown under uniform conditions in a greenhouse. Allozyme variations among 15 populations from geographically separated regions with different historical backgrounds showed that the populations are more genetically differentiated between the fellfield and snowbed habitats within a region than between populations occupying the same habitat type in different regions. These results suggest that variation in snowmelt regimes could be a driving force creating local adaptation and genetic differentiation of alpine plant populations.