GENETICS OF COLONIZING AND ESTABLISHED POPULATIONS OF PRIMULA-VERIS

Primula veris, a long-lived iteroparous herb which has declined in abundance in southern England since the 1940s, has recently been observed colonizing disturbed sites. The genetic structure of P. veris populations in the Oxford region was investigated to determine whether colonizing populations differ from those longer established. Nine enzyme systems, revealing 19 presumptive loci, were screened in 11 established and seven colonizing populations. Levels of variation were low in all populations, and all populations except one approximated panmixia. The proportion of the total variation among populations was small (F(ST) = 0.039) as were genetic distances between populations. No significant differences in genetic structure were recorded between established and colonizing populations. The lack of differentiation within and between populations is surprising for a long-lived, insect pollinated species with gravity dispersed seeds, for which gene flow would be expected to be spatially restricted.