Annals of Botany Page 1 of 11 doi:10.1093/aob/mcq192, available online at www.aob.oxfordjournals.org Distribution and habitat segregation on different spatial scales among diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid cytotypes of Senecio carniolicus (Asteraceae) in the Eastern Alps Michaela Sonnleitner1, Ruth Flatscher1, Pedro Escobar Garcı´a1, Jana Rauchova´2,3, Jan Suda2,3, Gerald M. Schneeweiss1,4, Karl Hu¨lber5,6,* and Peter Scho¨nswetter1,7 1Department of Biogeography and Botanical Garden, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, Vienna 1030, Austria, 2Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Pru˚honice 1, CZ-252 43, Czech Republic, 3Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Bena´tska´ 2, Prague, CZ-128 01, Czech Republic, 4Systematic Botany and Mycology, Downloaded from Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Menzingerstrasse 61, D-80638 Munich, Germany, 5Vienna Institute for Nature Conservation & Analyses, Giessergasse 6/7, Vienna 1090, Austria, 6Department of Conservation Biology, Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, Vienna 1030, Austria and 7Department of Systematics, Palynology and Geobotany, Institute of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Sternwartestrasse 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria * For correspondence. E-mail
[email protected] aob.oxfordjournals.org Received: 14 July 2010 Returned for revision: 27 July 2010 Accepted: 24 August 2010 † Background and Aims The spatial distribution of cytotypes can provide valuable insights into evolutionary pat- terns of polyploid complexes. In a previous study the macro-scale distribution of the three main cytotypes in Senecio carniolicus (Asteraceae) within the Eastern Alps was characterized. Employing a roughly 12-fold extended sampling, the present study focuses on unravelling patterns of cytotype distribution on the meso- and microscale and on correlating those with ecological properties of the growing sites.