Deep phylogeographic splits but no taxonomic structure in the disjointly distributed Draba pacheri (Brassicaceae), a subendemic of the Eastern Alps

Draba (Brassicaeae), a model group for diversification and evolution in Arctic and mountain habitats, is taxonomically challenging and many of its species are insufficiently investigated. One such species is D. pacheri, an endemic of the eastern European Alps and the western Carpathians (here presumably extinct). Several hypotheses exist with respect to the phylogenetic position and the taxonomy of this species, but none of these has ever been tested using molecular data. In this article we examine (i) DNA sequence data to assess the phylogenetic position of D. pacheri within the genus and (ii) AFLP fingerprint data as well as morphometric data to address whether this species can be divided taxonomically into species or subspecies. DNA sequence data firmly place D. pacheri within the Core Draba Group III, whose internal relationships are, however, insufficiently resolved to precisely identify the closest relative of D. pacheri. AFLP data identify several genetically divergent lineages corresponding to geographically distinct regions. Although these lineages are congruent with hypotheses distinguishing either two species (D. pacheri s. str., D. norica) or one species with several subspecies, the lack of clear morphological separation, both with respect to the entire set of traits and single presumably diagnostic characters such as trichome morphology, renders recognition of a single species D. pacheri, as suggested previously, the best taxonomic solution. The deep and geographically strongly structured splits of D. pacheri likely are the result of isolation in several Pleistocene refugia and warrant that conservation efforts should involve populations from each of the main geographic subgroups.