Habitat fragmentation can significantly affect mating and pollen dispersal patterns in plant populations, although the differential effects of the various aspects of fragmentation are poorly understood. In this study we used paternity assignment with eight microsatellite loci to investigate the effect of fragmentation on the mating system and pollen dispersal within one large and eight small population remnants of Banksia sphaerocarpa var. caesia, a bird-pollinated shrub in the southern agricultural region of Western Australia. The...

Few studies have described the genetic diversity within and between populations of polyploid plant species despite the general acceptance of the importance of polyploidy in plant diversification and speciation. The genus Atriplex has a complex evolutionary history in Australia that has included polyploidy and hybridization among perennial forms. The octoploid, dioecious species Atriplex nummularia is proposed to have evolved from an octoploid ancestor in the coastal semi-arid fringe of south-western Australia, and to have spread...