Genetic and morphological variation of Saxifraga caespitose L. from Spitsbergen (Svalbard):: a preliminary study

Saxifraga caespitose is a taxonomically difficult and poorly studied circumpolar arctic-alpine species. Two different phenotypes with distinct growth habits were collected at two shared localities in Spitsbergen. The natural genetic variation of both phenotypes was tested by AFLPs in order to investigate whether the differences at the phenothypical level are reflected at the genetic level. Low level of molecular variability between "tall" and "short" plants may suggest that the morphological variation could be due to phenotypic plasticity rather than genetic background.