Vegetation growth and landscape genetics of Tillandsia lomas at its dry limits in the Atacama Desert shows fine-scale response to environmental parameters

1. Ecosystems at its dry limits have been studied while focusing on species biology, fitness and interactions of biotic and abiotic parameters; however, the interactive effects of these parameters remain under-explored and, therefore, information is often lacking about the putative effect of global climate change on these ecosystems.

2. Here, we conducted an analysis of the interplay of fine-scale landscape genetics and biotic and abiotic factors of terrestrial Tillandsia lomas in the hyperarid Atacama Desert, characterized by a fog-dependent vegetation type consisting of almost one single vascular plant species only.

3. We showed that metapopulations of Tillandsia landbeckii are genetically connected over many hundreds of squarekilometres, and despite a large potential to propagate clonally genetic diversity is structured, regionally and locally. On landscape-level genetic diversity correlates well with fitness parameters such as growth, flowering and vegetation density, and we o...