DOI: 10.5061/dryad.bj0436h
title: Data from: Difference in reproductive mode rather than ploidy explains niche differentiation in sympatric sexual and apomictic populations of Potentilla puberula

description: Apomicts tend to have larger geographical distributional ranges and to
 occur in ecologically more extreme environments than their sexual
 progenitors. However, the expression of apomixis is typically linked to
 polyploidy. Thus, it is a priori not clear whether intrinsic effects
 related to the change in the reproductive mode or rather in the ploidy
 drive ecological differentiation. We used sympatric sexual and apomictic
 populations of Potentilla puberula to test for ecological differentiation.
 To distinguish the effects of reproductive mode and ploidy on the ecology
 of cytotypes, we compared the niches (i) of sexuals (tetraploids) and
 autopolyploid apomicts (penta-, hepta- and octoploids) and (ii) of the
 three apomictic cytotypes. We based comparisons on a ploidy screen of 238
 populations along a latitudinal transect through the Eastern European Alps
 and associated bioclimatic, soil and topographic data. Sexual tetraploids
 preferred primary habitats at drier, steeper, more south-oriented slopes,
 while apomicts mostly occurred in human-made habitats with higher water
 availability. Contrariwise, we found no or only marginal ecological
 differentiation among the apomictic higher ploids. Based on the pronounced
 ecological differences found between sexuals and apomicts, in addition to
 the lack of niche differentiation among cytotypes of the same reproductive
 mode, we conclude that reproductive mode rather than ploidy is the main
 driver of the observed differences. Moreover, we compared our system with
 others from the literature, to stress the importance of identifying
 alternative confounding effects (such as hybrid origin). Finally, we
 underline the relevance of studying ecological parthenogenesis in
 sympatry, to minimise the effects of differential migration abilities
description: Bioclimatic variables (bio01 - bio19) were obtained in April 2018
 from CHELSA database at http://chelsa-climate.org/ with a spatial resolution of 30″. If you reuse these variables, please cite the original data source: Karger DN, Conrad O, Böhner J, Kawohl T, Kreft H, Soria-Auza RW, Zimmermann NE, Linder HP, Kessler M (2017) Data from: Climatologies at high resolution for the earth's land surface areas. Dryad Digital Repository. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kd1d4 And the associated publication: Karger DN, Conrad O, Böhner J, Kawohl T, Kreft H, Soria-Auza RW, Zimmermann NE, Linder HP, Kessler M (2017) Climatologies at high resolution for the earth's land surface areas. Scientific Data 4: 170122. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.122   The normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) was retrieved in April 2018 from NASA through a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS; modis.gsfc.nasa.gov) that incorporates a MOD13Q1 sensor. If you reuse these data, please cite the original data source: Didan K (2015) <i>MOD13Q1 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 250m SIN Grid V006</i> [Data set]. NASA EOSDIS LP DAAC. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13Q1.006   Potentilla_puberula_Alonso-Marcos_et_al_ecological_variables_population_level_2018 Appendix 1. Description of 238 populations of Potentilla puberula sampled between 1999 and 2015 in the Eastern European Alps. Geographical and collection information, number of sampled individuals (N) and cytotype composition, as well as source of flow cytometric data (FCM) are given. Topographic parameters (elevation, in m a.s.l.; inclination and aspect, in degrees), a variable representing the land use intensity, an index of vegetation density (NDVI) and bioclimatic descriptors (Bio01-Bio19, from the Chelsea Climate database) are noted per each population. Please see README for citation information. Soil parameters are reported for 121 populations visited in 2015, including pH, carbonate (CO3--), organic carbon (Corg) and nitrogen content (Ntot; in g/kg), cation exchange capacity (CEC), cations (in mmol/kg), and base saturation (BS, in %). Abbreviations: AT Andreas Tribsch; CD Christoph Dobeš; FDN Flavia Domizia Nardi; HAM Henar Alonso-Marcos; JAH Julian Ananda Haider; JP Juraj Paule; RS Roswitha Schmickl; SSc Susanne Scheffknecht; SSt Simon Stifter; TW Thomas Wilhalm.     Potentilla_puberula_Alonso-Marcos_et_al_Flow_Cytometry_2018 Appendix 2. Flow cytometric data of 1,878 individuals from 115 populations collected between 1999 and 2013. Identification, population and used device for the analyses are indicated. Used internal standards are provided: either Solanum pseudocapsicum (Sps) or Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Stupické polní tyčkové rané (Sly). Since several individuals from the same population were pooled in each measurement (the number of individuals included in each measurement is provided), more than one sample peak was found in some measurements. For each of these peaks (Peak1, Peak2, Peak3 and Peak4) and for the standard, the count of particles, the mean fluorescence and the coefficient of variation are reported. The sample/standard ratio was used to infer the ploidy level of each peak. The number of individuals (N_Peak1 to N_Peak4) per each determined ploidy level (Ploidy_Peak1 to Ploidy_Peak4) are given.