Seema Mahmood
Institute of Pure and Applied Biology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, P .C. 60800, Pakistan
Asad Abbas
Institute of Pure and Applied Biology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, P .C. 60800, Pakistan
ABSTRACT
Local population differentiation was studied in twenty populations of Trifolium alexandrinum L. Ten population were sampled from undisturbed sites while the other ten were collected from a variety of disturbed habitats. Each individual plant was regarded as genet and was analyzed for various biometric traits by taking consistent measurements for all characteristics. The biometric analyses revealed considerable phenotypic variability for a majority of morphological expressions. A significant differentiation between populations was found in response to local habitat conditions. This study suggested that phenotypic differentiation in T. alxandrinum was strongly influenced by environmental disturbance. Therefore, disturbance seems to play a major role in the generation of variation. The occurrence of phenotypic modification in response to environment was regarded as phenotypic plasticity and it appeared to be an important feature of adaptation to environmental fluctuation. This study concluded that the persistence of the species in spatially and temporally disturbed habitats presumably depends on the variability of certain morphological expressions.
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How to cite this article
Seema Mahmood and Asad Abbas, 2003. Local Population Differentiation
in Trifolium alexandinum L.
in Response to Various Disturbance Regimes. Journal of Biological Sciences, 3: 773-781.
DOI: 10.3923/jbs.2003.773.781
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=jbs.2003.773.781
DOI: 10.3923/jbs.2003.773.781
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=jbs.2003.773.781
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