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Patterns of Genetic Variation in Festuca Hallii (Vasey) Piper Across the Canadian Prairie

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Patterns of Genetic Variation in Festuca Hallii (Vasey) Piper Across the Canadian Prairie Patterns of Genetic Variation in Festuca hallii (Vasey) Piper across the Canadian Prairie A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Plant Sciences University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By Jie Qiu © Copyright Jie Qiu, May 2009. All rights reserved Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-92166-1 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-92166-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of material in this thesis, in whole or part, should be addressed to: Head of the Department of Plant Sciences 51 Campus Drive University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A8, Canada i ABSTRACT Festuca hallii [(Vasey) Piper] (plains rough fescue) is a dominant native grass species in the Fescue Prairie region of North America that has undergone dramatic range reduction in the past century. This research is undertaken to address the related issues associated with the effectiveness of sampling in capturing genetic diversity, the influence of habitat fragmentation on genetic variation, the geographic variation of seed germination characteristics, and the comparative genetic variation of differential germination. It was found that the tiller samples revealed slightly larger among-population variation than the seed samples. The fescue plant was genetically diverse, as revealed by the proportion of polymorphic bands, the mean band frequency, and the within-population variation. The genetic variation was not highly differentiated with only 6.5% of the total AFLP variation residing among populations. Mantel test revealed a significant correlation between genetic and geographic distances and a spatial autocorrelation up to 60 km among populations was detected. Base temperatures (Tb, minimal or base temperature permitting germination) of the 15 populations fell into a narrow range within 2.2oC with an average of 1.1oC. High final germination percentage was reached at a wide temperature range from 5 to 20oC with the highest germination percentage at 10oC. Germination o rate index increased with increasing temperature from 5 to 20 C. Tb was positively correlated with latitude and negatively with longitude and the thermal time requirement for 50% germination was negatively correlated with latitude. The AFLP variation and germination responses were significantly associated with environmental attributes related to moisture, indicating local adaptation. However, the AFLP variation and germination was not significantly associated with the estimated population size and geographic distance to the nearest neighbor, suggesting that fragmentation has not generated considerable genetic and germination impact on the fescue populations. Marked differences in estimates of mean band frequency were observed for various groups of germinating seeds under different test temperatures. Comparisons of AFLP variation among 27 groups of seeds representing population, germination timing and test temperature indicates seed genotypes respond slightly differently to environmental variation, resulting in significant but small impact of germination timing and temperature on the genetic diversity of populations. These findings are significant not only for understanding and predicting ii the ecological adaptation of the species, but also for formulating effective restoration strategies for remnant populations. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my co-supervisors Dr. Y. Bai and Dr. Y.-B. Fu for their tremendous help throughout my graduate study and research. Their knowledge, guidance, encouragement, and timely feedback made this thesis possible. My special thanks also go to committee members, Dr. J. F. Wilmshurst, Dr. B. Coulman, Dr. K. E. Bett, and Dr. K. Tanino, whose encouragement, questions, suggestions and insightful comments were greatly helpful and invigorating. My thanks are also extended to Dr. S. R. Larson for acting as the external examiner. I thank M. Braun, Numa, Biligetu, J. Weir, N. Stolle, R. Fidler, C. Mckillop, W. Vanderschuit, E. Qualtiere, H. Liu, J. Yan, and B. Xu for assisting in sample collection; G. W. Peterson, C. Gilkinson, G. Wong, V. Roslinsky, and J. Dickin for their technical support in molecular screening; C. Nykoluk (The Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA), R. McBride (Ducks Unlimited Canada), B. James and C. Lokerbie (Alberta Community Development Cultural Facilities and Historical Resources Division) for obtaining permits, landowner contacts, and maps; K. Richards, W. Willms, J. Romo, and Y. Plante for encouraging discussions; Department of Plant Sciences in University of Saskatchewan, Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC) in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Parks Canada, Saskatchewan Community Pastures Program, Alberta Community Development Cultural Facilities and Historical Resources Division for providing facility and lands for this research; and private land owners for allowing us to sample in their property. Financial support from Parks Canada Ecological Integrity Innovation and Leadership Fund is gratefully acknowledged. I am also grateful for the financial support provided through NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship from Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, the University Postgraduate Scholarship, Dollie Hantelman Postgraduate Scholarship, Alexander and Jean Auckland Postgraduate Bursary, and O. M. Elviss Postgraduate Scholarship. I also want to express my thanks to the fellow graduate students, the excellent faculty and the wonderful office staff members of the Department of Plant Sciences. I thank my wife Qiuju and my sons David and Steven for their love, support and understanding through this program. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PERMISSION TO USE ................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................4 2.1 Festuca hallii (plains rough fescue) in the Fescue Prairie of Canada................................... 4
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