Present study was designed to verify which or if any of plastome loci is a hotspot region for mutations and hence might be useful for molecular species identification in feather grasses. 21 newly sequenced complete plastid genomes representing 19 taxa from the genus of Stipa were analyzed in search of the most variable and the most discriminative loci within Stipa. The results showed that the problem with selecting a good barcode locus for feather grasses lies in the very low level of genetic diversity within its plastome. None of the single chloroplast loci is polymorphic enough to play a role of a barcode or a phylogenetic marker for Stipa. The biggest number of taxa was successfully identified by the analysis of 600 bp long DNA fragment comprising a part of rbcL gene, the complete rbcL-rpl23 spacer and a part of rpl23 gene. The effectiveness of multi-locus barcode composed of six best-performing loci for Stipa (ndhH, rpl23, ndhF-rpl32, rpl32-ccsA, psbK-psbI and petA-psbJ) didn’t reach 70% of analyzed taxa. The analysis of complete plastome sequences as a super-barcode for Stipa although much more effective, still didn’t allow for discrimination of all the analyzed taxa of feather grasses.

Aim: Species–area relationships (SARs) are fundamental scaling laws in ecology although their shape is still disputed. At larger areas, power laws best represent SARs. Yet, it remains unclear whether SARs follow other shapes at finer spatial grains in continuous vegetation. We asked which function describes SARs best at small grains and explored how sampling methodology or the environment influence SAR shape.Location: Palaearctic grasslands and other non‐forested habitats.Taxa: Vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens.Methods: We used the GrassPlot database, containing standardized vegetation‐plot data from vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens spanning a wide range of grassland types throughout the Palaearctic and including 2,057 nested‐plot series with at least seven grain sizes ranging from 1 cm² to 1,024 m². Using nonlinear regression, we assessed the appropriateness of different SAR functions (power, power quadratic, power breakpoint, logarithmic, Michaelis–Menten). Based on AICc, we tested whether the ranking of functions differed among taxonomic groups, methodological settings, biomes or vegetation types.Results: The power function was the most suitable function across the studied taxonomic groups. The superiority of this function increased from lichens to bryophytes to vascular plants to all three taxonomic groups together. The sampling method was highly influential as rooted presence sampling decreased the performance of the power function. By contrast, biome and vegetation type had practically no influence on the superiority of the power law.Main conclusions: We conclude that SARs of sessile organisms at smaller spatial grains are best approximated by a power function. This coincides with several other comprehensive studies of SARs at different grain sizes and for different taxa, thus supporting the general appropriateness of the power function for modelling species diversity over a wide range of grain sizes. The poor performance of the Michaelis–Menten function demonstrates that richness within plant communities generally does not approach any saturation, thus calling into question the concept of minimal area.

This paper presents new data on the occurrence of 16 vascular plant species from five Eurasian countries obtained during field explorations, as well as during taxonomic revisions of herbarium materials. Five taxa (Draba fladnizensis, Gentiana orbicularis, Helianthus giganteus, Symphyotrichum cordifolium, Thalictrum alpinum) are recorded for the first time from Poland, five (Achnatherum jacquemontii, Arrhenatherum elatius, Dittrichia graveolens, Geranium pyrenaicum, Stipa × balkanabatica) from Tajikistan, three (Achnatherum sibiricum, Asyneuma thomsonii, Stipa × balkanabatica) from Kyrgyzstan, one (Orobanche bartlingii) from Turkey, one (Calamagrostis obtusata) from China and one (Calamagrostis emodensis) from the Gansu Province in China. In addition, Hieracium piliferum, considered extinct in Poland, was rediscovered. For each species, synonyms, taxonomy with remarks on recognition and differentiation of the species from the most similar taxa occurring in a given area, general distribution, habitat preferences, as well as a list of recorded localities (often far from the previously known areas) are presented. As a result of the morphological comparison of specimens representing Stipa × balkanabatica collected in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with the type specimen collected from Turkmenistan, we decided to describe a new variety named S. × balkanabatica var. alaiensis M. Nobis & Klichowska, var. nov. Additionally, based on the analysis of phytosociological relevés prepared during field studies in the western Pamir Alai Mts (in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan), a new association of chasmophytic plants named Asperulo oppositifoliae–Achnatheretum jacquemontii M. Nobis, Klichowska & A. Nowak, is also described.

Aim: Past climatic oscillations are the main driving force of evolutionary changes in alpine species. Species' response to paleoclimatic oscillations is crucial in forecasting their future response in face of climate warming. The aim of this research is to explore the effect of climatic fluctuations on the evolutionary history, demography, and distribution of high‐mountain bellflowers (Campanula lehmannianacomplex), the flagship and taxonomically problematic members of chasmophytic vegetation within an underexplored biodiversity hotspot, the Mountains of Central Asia.Location: Central Asia (Tian Shan, Alai and Zeravshan‐Hissar Mountains).Methods: We used molecular data (ITS, cpDNA, DArTseq‐based SNPs) of 262 individuals (70 for the phylogeny reconstruction, and 247 from 31 localities for population studies). We analysed the data using phylogenetic and molecular clock reconstructions, coalescent simulations, and ecological niche modelling.Results: Tertiary isolation between the Tian‐Shanian and Pamir‐Alaian populations led to the differentiation of the two main lineages (~5–6 Mya) corresponding toC. eugeniaeandC. lehmanniana, whereas further Quaternary isolation into subregions led to intraspecific genetic differentiation, which starts almost simultaneously for both species (~2.7–1.5 Mya). The relatively small genetic admixture among populations indicates rare historic events of connectivity. In response to Holocene warming, the analysed species experienced a substantial decline in effective population size. Currently, the distribution of both taxa is highly influenced by precipitation in the coldest and driest quarters.Main Conclusions: Our results highlight a general principle that glacial–interglacial cycles and contemporary island‐like habitats distribution, shape the genomic variation of high‐mountain species. The similar declining demographic trend of examined taxa may suggest the overall response to ongoing climate warming. The results underline also the urgent need for conservation action in alpine regions to preserve their biodiversity.

Stipa purpurea is a high-alpine species that occurs in cryophilous steppes, semi-deserts and stony slopes, from the Tian Shan and Pamirian Plateau through Qinghai-Xizang Plateau to the Himalayas and is characterised by a great morphological variability. During the revision of specimens of the taxon, we observed that the pattern of this variability is linked to the geographical distribution of the specimens. Numerical analyses (PCA and UPGMA) revealed three groups of OTUs corresponding to three morphotypes within the S. purpurea complex. A set of macro- and micromorphological characters, supported by a map of general distributional ranges, are presented to distinguish each of the three taxa within the complex and we reassess the status of Lasiagrostis tremula described by Ruprecht in 1869. As a result, Stipa tremula, S. purpurea and S. arenosa were distinguished within the complex. The intermediate characters of S. arenosa may suggest its putative hybrid origin (S. tremula × S. purpurea), whereas the presence of extremely long florets may be an expression of the gigas effect. We propose two new combinations (S. tremula and S. arenosa), describe a new nothospecies (S. × ladakhensis) that originated from hybridisation between S. klimesii and S. purpurea s.l. and designate the lectotype for Ptilagrostis semenovii. An identification key and detailed morphological description of species from the S. purpurea complex are also presented.

Diversification and demographic responses are key processes shaping species evolutionary history. Yet we still lack a full understanding of ecological mechanisms that shape genetic diversity at different spatial scales upon rapid environmental changes. In this study, we examined genetic differentiation in an extremophilic grass Puccinellia pamirica and factors affecting its population dynamics among the occupied hypersaline alpine wetlands on the arid Pamir Plateau in Central Asia. Using genomic data, we found evidence of fine-scale population structure and gene flow among the localities established across the high-elevation plateau as well as fingerprints of historical demographic expansion. We showed that an increase in the effective population size could coincide with the Last Glacial Period, which was followed by the species demographic decline during the Holocene. Geographic distance plays a vital role in shaping the spatial genetic structure of P. pamirica alongside with isolation-by-environment and habitat fragmentation. Our results highlight a complex history of divergence and gene flow in this species-poor alpine region during the Late Quaternary. We demonstrate that regional climate specificity and a shortage of nonclimate data largely impede predictions of future range changes of the alpine extremophile using ecological niche modeling. This study emphasizes the importance of fine-scale environmental heterogeneity for population dynamics and species distribution shifts.