Population genetics of arid grassland plants in Hustai National Park, Mongolia. Magnoliopsida

This study aims to address a scientific question about the relationships between genetic diversity, census population size (number of individuals), and its stability over four years across multiple plant species in a local community of the Mongolian grassland. We performed the population genetic analysis for the nine common species (Stipa krylovii, Convolvulus ammanii, Allium bidentatum, Cymbaria dahurica, Carex duriuscula, Agropyron cristatum, Kochia prostrata, Artemisia frigida, and Caragana leucophloea) to calculate genetic indices. We observed no significant relationship between genetic indices and census population size nor its stability. This result could be attributed to the dependence of census population size and its stability on species-specific identity.