The Korean Baekdudaegan Mountains: A Glacial Refugium and a Biodiversity Hotspot That Needs to Be Conserved

The Baekdudaegan (BDDG; Figure 1) is a mountain range relatively unknown outside Korea. From recent times, however, the BDDG is known outside Korea because it shelters the small county of Pyeongchang, the venue of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.This research was supported by Korea Research Foundation grants; KRF-2013R1A1A2063524 to MYC and NRF-2011-0017236, NRF-2013R1A1A3010892, and NRF-2017R1A2B4012215 to MGC and was carried out as part of the Infrastructure for the Conservation and Restoration of Rare and Endemic Plants in Korea National Arboretum that supported to MGC from 2015 to 2018.Peer reviewe

Patterns of genetic diversity in rare and common Orchids focusing on the Korean Peninsula: Implications for conservation

25 p., tablas, figura -- Postprint del artículo publicado en Botanical Review. Versión revisada y corregidaTo provide basic information for orchid conservation, we surveyed the plant allozyme literature to summarize genetic diversity and structure data for (i) rare orchids native to the Korean Peninsula, and (ii) their congeners irrespective of being common and rare or Korean or not. A total of 68 taxa (32 taxa in Korea and 37 outside Korea; Goodyera repens being included in both datasets) were considered in this study. Overall, rare Korean orchid species had significantly lower levels of genetic diversity than their common congeners and common orchids in general at both population and species levels. However, mean values of GST (or FST) for rare and common orchids (Korean or not) did not differ significantly from each other. We found patterns of both low and high genetic diversity in rare Korean orchids. Many rare orchids harbored a complete lack of allozyme variation or extremely low within-population variation, perhaps due to rarity associated with random genetic drift and/or, for the case of warm-temperate orchids, to founder effects during post-glacial re-colonization. In contrast, high levels of genetic variation were found for a few orchids that have become recently rare (due to over-collection during the past several decades), probably because there have not been sufficient generations for the initial diversity to be substantially eroded. In addition, several orchids occurring in the main mountain system of the Korean Peninsula (the Baekdudaegan), that served as a glacial refugium, maintained moderate to high levels of within-population genetic diversity. Based on our genetic data, conservation priority should be given to rare orchid species. Particularly, urgent measures should be implemented on Jeju Island, a popular vacation spot, because it also a hotspot for threatened orchids with low levels of genetic diversity.This research was supported by Korea Research Foundation grants; KRF-2013R1A1A2063524 to M.Y. C. and NRF-2011-0017236, NRF-2013R1A1A3010892, and NRF-2017R1A2B4012215 to M. G. C. and was carried out as part of “Infrastructure for Conservation and Restoration of Rare and Endemic Plants in Korea National Arboretum” that supported to M. G. C. in 2015 to 2017.Peer reviewe

Patterns of genetic diversity in rare and common Orchids focusing on the Korean Peninsula: Implications for conservation

25 p., tablas, figura -- Postprint del artículo publicado en Botanical Review. Versión revisada y corregidaTo provide basic information for orchid conservation, we surveyed the plant allozyme literature to summarize genetic diversity and structure data for (i) rare orchids native to the Korean Peninsula, and (ii) their congeners irrespective of being common and rare or Korean or not. A total of 68 taxa (32 taxa in Korea and 37 outside Korea; Goodyera repens being included in both datasets) were considered in this study. Overall, rare Korean orchid species had significantly lower levels of genetic diversity than their common congeners and common orchids in general at both population and species levels. However, mean values of GST (or FST) for rare and common orchids (Korean or not) did not differ significantly from each other. We found patterns of both low and high genetic diversity in rare Korean orchids. Many rare orchids harbored a complete lack of allozyme variation or extremely low within-population variation, perhaps due to rarity associated with random genetic drift and/or, for the case of warm-temperate orchids, to founder effects during post-glacial re-colonization. In contrast, high levels of genetic variation were found for a few orchids that have become recently rare (due to over-collection during the past several decades), probably because there have not been sufficient generations for the initial diversity to be substantially eroded. In addition, several orchids occurring in the main mountain system of the Korean Peninsula (the Baekdudaegan), that served as a glacial refugium, maintained moderate to high levels of within-population genetic diversity. Based on our genetic data, conservation priority should be given to rare orchid species. Particularly, urgent measures should be implemented on Jeju Island, a popular vacation spot, because it also a hotspot for threatened orchids with low levels of genetic diversity.This research was supported by Korea Research Foundation grants; KRF-2013R1A1A2063524 to M.Y. C. and NRF-2011-0017236, NRF-2013R1A1A3010892, and NRF-2017R1A2B4012215 to M. G. C. and was carried out as part of “Infrastructure for Conservation and Restoration of Rare and Endemic Plants in Korea National Arboretum” that supported to M. G. C. in 2015 to 2017.Peer reviewe

Comparison of genetic variation between northern and southern populations of Lilium cernuum (Liliaceae): Implications for Pleistocene refugia

The so-called “Baekdudaegan” (BDDG), a mountain range that stretches along the Korean Peninsula, has been recently proposed as a major “southern” glacial refugium for boreal or temperate plant species based on palaeoecological and, especially, genetic data. Genetic studies comparing genetic variation between population occurring on the BDDG and more northern ones (i.e. in NE China and/or in Russian Far East) are, however, still too few to draw firm conclusions on the role of the BDDG as a refugium and a source for possible northward post-glacial recolonizations. In order to fill this gap, we selected a boreal/temperate herb, Lilium cernuum, and compared levels of allozyme-based genetic diversity of five populations from NE China with five populations from South Korea (home of its hypothesized refuge areas). As a complementary tool, we used the maximum entropy algorithm implemented in MaxEnt to infer the species’ potential distribution for the present time, which was projected to different past climate scenarios for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Permutation tests revealed that Korean populations harbored significantly higher levels of within-population genetic variation than those from NE China (expected heterozygosity = 0.173 vs. 0.095, respectively). Our results suggest that the lowered levels of genetic diversity in NE Chinese populations might be due to founder effects associated with post-glacial migration from southern regions. Congruent with genetic data, past distribution models showed higher probability of occurrence in southern ranges than in northern ones during the LGM. In addition, a positive correlation was detected between the expected heterozygosity and environmental LGM suitability. From a conservation perspective, our results further suggest that the southern populations in South Korea may be particularly worthy of protection.This study was carried out as part of “Infrastructure for Conservation and Restoration of Rare and Endemic Plants in Korea National Arboretum” that supported to M.G.C. in 2016. Also, this study supported in part by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education [NRF-2017R1A2B4012215] to M.G.C. (https://ernd.nrf.re.kr/websquare/websquare.do?2xPath=/wsq/sl/slc/SlcRsltCfmRM.xml).Peer reviewe

Summary of genetic diversity measures and mean fixation values (<i>F</i>_IS) for five Chinese populations and five Korean populations of <i>Lilium cernuum</i>^a.

<p>Summary of genetic diversity measures and mean fixation values (<i>F</i>_IS) for five Chinese populations and five Korean populations of <i>Lilium cernuum</i><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0190520#t002fn001" target="_blank">^a</a>.</p

Pearson’s correlations between expected the expected heterozygosity (<i>H</i>_e) and habitat suitability (measured as MaxEnt’s logistic output) for all <i>Lilium cernuum</i> studied individuals, for (A) the present time, and (B) the LGM.

<p>Pearson’s correlations between expected the expected heterozygosity (<i>H</i>_e) and habitat suitability (measured as MaxEnt’s logistic output) for all <i>Lilium cernuum</i> studied individuals, for (A) the present time, and (B) the LGM.</p

A comparison of potential habitats for <i>Lilium cernuum</i> under the present climate and three climatic scenarios for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ca. 21,000 yr BP).

<p>(A) Potential habitats under the present climate; (B) Potential habitats expected for the LGM using the CCSM4 model, (C) the MIROC-ESM model, and (D) the MPI-ESM-P model. The darker color indicates a higher probability of occurrence. Maps were generated using the software ArcGIS 10.2. The reconstructed LGM coastlines are represented as dashed lines. Blue circles are the precise occurrence records of <i>L</i>. <i>cernuum</i> (at 2.5 arc-min resolution) used to build the models.</p

Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) of <i>Lilium cernuum</i> populations^a.

<p>Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) of <i>Lilium cernuum</i> populations<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0190520#t003fn001" target="_blank">^a</a>.</p

Differentiation between populations of <i>Lilium cernuum</i>.

<p>Multilocus estimates of pairwise differentiation of <i>F</i>_ST/(1 − <i>F</i>_ST) are plotted against logarithm (ln) of pairwise geographic distances in meters. A significant relationship was found for <i>L</i>. <i>cernuum</i> (<i>r</i> = 0.312, <i>P</i> = 0.041).</p

Results of STRUCTURE for all <i>Lilium cernuum</i> studied individuals.

<p>Assignation of individuals to genetic clusters is at <i>K</i> = 2.</p