Range-wide phylogeography of the European temperate-montane herbaceous plantMeum athamanticumJacq.: evidence for periglacial persistence

Aim The aim of this study is to analyse the genetic population structure of Meum athamanticum Jacq. in order to explore the alternative hypotheses (1) that the central and northern highland populations are the result of post-glacial recolonization from southern refugia, and the disjunct distribution of M. athamanticum can be explained by modern ecological conditions, or (2) that extant populations north of the Alps and Pyrenees persisted in situ during glacial periods. Location Europe. Methods Variation of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) was analysed for 23 populations from the entire range of the species. We used band-based approaches and methods based on allele frequencies…