Population persistence and offspring fitness in the rare bellflower Campanula cervicaria in relation to population size and habitat quality

Data from several animal species and a few plant species indicate that small populations face an elevated risk of extinction. Plants are still underrepresented in these studies concerning the relation between population size and persistence. We studied the effect of population size on persistence am...

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Published in:	Conservation biology Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 1413 - 1421
Main Authors:	Eisto, A.K, Kuitunen, M, Lammi, A, Saari, V, Suhonen, J, Syrjasuo, S, Tikka, P.M
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Boston, MA, USA Blackwell Science Inc 01-10-2000 Blackwell Science Blackwell
Subjects:	Animal and plant ecology Animal, plant and microbial ecology Applied ecology Biological and medical sciences Campanula Campanula cervicaria Conservation biology Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife Demecology Ecological genetics Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Germination Habitat conservation habitats Metapopulation ecology Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking Plants Plants and fungi population density Population genetics Population size reproductive fitness seed germination seedling growth Seedlings Vegetation Europe Finland Population extinction Dicotyledones Germination Angiospermae Campanulaceae Population number Spermatophyta Viability Plant conservation Rare species Fitness Population productivity
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Summary:	Data from several animal species and a few plant species indicate that small populations face an elevated risk of extinction. Plants are still underrepresented in these studies concerning the relation between population size and persistence. We studied the effect of population size on persistence among natural populations of the rare bellflower Campanula cervicaria in Finland. We monitored 52 bellflower populations for 8 years and found that the mean population size decreased from 24 to 14 during this period. Small populations with ≤5 individuals were more prone to losing all fertile plants than were larger ones. Reduction in population size was nevertheless unrelated to the degree of population isolation, measured as the distance to the nearest known population. To test the hypothesis that offspring fitness is lower in small populations, we germinated bellflower seeds from different-sized populations in a laboratory and found that seed germination ability was independent of population size. The seedlings raised from seeds of small populations grew faster than those taken from larger populations. Population size was negatively related to the amount of shade in the habitats. In conclusion, decreasing population sizes of C. cervicaria seemed not to be caused by lowered germination ability or growth rate in small populations; rather, population size reductions appeared to be due to closing of vegetation in the habitats.
Bibliography:	istex:A91707F64616C485A08878D8A1A74AAF6B35505A ark:/67375/WNG-37Q3K6H7-F ArticleID:COBI99283 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23
ISSN:	0888-8892 1523-1739
DOI:	10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.99283.x