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Copper tolerance in a population of Silene vulgaris ssp. maritima (A. & D. Love) at Dolfrwynog Bog near Dolgellau, North Wales

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Abstract

Clones of Silene vulgaris ssp. maritima individuals from Dolfrwynog Bog, North Wales and from a coastal control site were propagated under standardised environmental conditions. After five months, cuttings were taken and tested for copper tolerance by means of root extension analysis in solutions of various different copper concentrations. Indices of tolerance suggested that individuals from the Dolfrwynog population were more resistant to elevated copper concentrations than were the control population individuals. Due to the initial five months under standardised conditions, it was assumed that the cloned plant material would have lost all plastic adaptive responses to its native environment. If this assumption was valid then the differences in copper tolerance observed between the two populations had a genetic basis and the Dolfrwynog Bog population is a copper tolerant ecotype.

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Author notes

  1. Cynthia G. Price

    Present address: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, PO Box 601, S10 2UQ, England

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth Studies, University of Wales, SY23 3DB, Aberystwyth, Wales

    Cynthia G. Price & Peter W. Abrahams

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  1. Cynthia G. Price
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  2. Peter W. Abrahams
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Price, C.G., Abrahams, P.W. Copper tolerance in a population of Silene vulgaris ssp. maritima (A. & D. Love) at Dolfrwynog Bog near Dolgellau, North Wales. Environ Geochem Health 16, 27–30 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00149590

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00149590

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