Oenothera Section Calylophus population genetic study

Premise: Animal pollinators play an important role in pollen dispersal. Differences in foraging patterns, flight distances and grooming behaviors are assumed to have consequences for genetic diversity of plants but are rarely tested explicitly. Here, we assess the role of pollinator functional groups with different foraging behaviors (hawkmoth and bee) in generating patterns of genetic diversity over similar geographic ranges for two closely related taxa.
Methods: This study focuses on two members of Oenothera section Calylophus that co-occur on gypsum outcrops throughout the Chihuahua Desert but differ in floral phenotype and primary pollinator: Oenothera gayleana (bee) and O. hartwegii subsp. filifolia (hawkmoth). We measured breeding system and floral traits in the greenhouse and conducted a population genetic study at the local (<13km; four populations) and landscape (60–440km; five populations) scales using 10–11 nuclear (pollen dispersal) and three plastid (seed dispersal) micr..., Floral morphology and leaf tissue for genetic samples were collected in wild populations in New Mexico and Texas, USA.
Floral morphology data and the breeding system assessment were conducted on plants grown in a growth chamber at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Illinois, USA.
Additional details of methods used can be found in the published manuscript (to be updated upon publication).,