Evaluation of variability of morphometric traits of plants and age spectrum of cenopopulations of Matthiola daghestanica (Brassicaceae) of the Piedmont and Mid‐mountain Dagestan, Russia

Aim: Study of intra‐ and interpopulation variability of quantitative traits of Matthiola daghestanica (Conti) N. Busch and assessment of the age spectrum of natural cenopopulations of Piedmont and Mid‐mountain Dagestan. The material consisted of 90 plants (shoots with inflorescences) taken from coenopopulations of various locations of the studied species (450, 610 and 960 m above sea level). An analysis of the variability of 12 morphological traits of M. daghestanica was carried out. To assess the age spectrum, 5x5 m test plots were laid out at three points (75 m²), where the age (ontogenetic) states of M. daghestanica guided by methods from the works of T.A. Rabotnov (1950) and A.A. Uranov (1957). The variability of the morphological traits of the Dagestan endemic M. daghestanica has been studied and its age spectrum in the natural cenopopulations of Piedmont and Mid‐mountain Dagestan has been assessed. The most variable were the weight traits. Analysis of the significance of the differences between the selected groups using the t‐test confirmed that “Chakh‐Chakh” is highly isolated from other coenopopulations, and to the greatest extent from “Chirkata”. The linear trait “length vegetative features” introduces the greatest significant differences between all coenopopulations. The percentage of age states from the total number of individuals varies among populations. The age spectrum of M. daghestanica in the “Chirkata” cenopopulation is represented by a predominance of the juvenile (25 %) and virginal (25 %) groups and in the “Ashilta” cenopopulation by the adult group (23.9 %). Among the age states of the generative period in all cenopopulations, young generative individuals prevail (16.7–19.4 %). The largest number of middle‐aged generative individuals is in the “Chakh‐Chakh” cenopopulation (16.3 %). Analysis of the variability of morphological characteristics of M. daghestanica plants showed that linear and numerical traits for the three cenopopulations are less variable. Significant variability was revealed in weight characteristics: “mass caulis and leaves” (518.3–818.7 mg); “total mass shoot” (990.7–1342.8 mg). The squared Mahalanobis distances of the characters studied revealed the isolation of the “Chakh‐Chakh” cenopopulation from the other two (“Achilta”, “Chirkata”). The age spectrum of M. daghestanica coenopopulations is similar in the Piedmont and Mid‐mountain Dagestan, despite the different number of age states. Cenopopulations of M. daghestanica are normal, capable of self‐renewal, characterized by recovery indices of 1.2–2.8 %.