Most natural populations of plants and animals display great genetic variability, even though many factors reduce genetic diversity within a species. Plant and animal breeders, as well as conservation biologists, often attempt to maintain genetic diversity within desirable lines, since such diversity is thought to reduce the possibility of extinction due to inbreeding depression, disease, parasites, and new environmental challenges. Understanding how genetic diversity is engendered and maintained in natural populations is therefore a major goal of conservation biologists. This project will focus on the ways in which spatial heterogeneity can bring about genetic diversification within a single plant population Microgeographic variation due to slope aspect, snow melt, water evaporation, or elevation can force plants within a single site to flower at different times and can lead to different selective pressures on early and late flowering individuals. Population genetics theory suggest that these conditions will lead to the maintenance of high genetic diversity. In this study system, variation in snow melt schedule imposes variable growth and flowering schedules on the alpine plant community. How the temporal and spatial components of this heterogeneity maintain genetic variation within an alpine population of Ranunculus will be determined. This research will produce insight into factors that preserve genetic diversity in economically useful plant and animal breeds, as well as in threatened populations.
