The island-like distribution of subalpine habitats across mountain ranges can trigger the parallel
evolution of locally adapted ecotypes. Such naturally replicated scenarios allow testing hypotheses on
how elevational differentiation structures genetic diversity within species. Nevertheless, the parallel
colonization of subalpine habitats across different mountain ranges has only rarely been documented
with molecular data. We chose Primula elatior (Primulaceae), naturally spanning entire elevation
range in multiple mountain regions of central Europe, to test for the origin of its scattered subalpine
populations. Nuclear microsatellite variation revealed three genetic groups corresponding with the
distinct study regions. We found that genetic differentiation between foothill and subalpine populations
within each region was relatively low, suggesting that the colonization of subalpine habitats occurred
independently within each mountain range. Furthermore, the strongest differentiation was usually
found between the subalpine populations suggesting that mountain ridges may act as migration
barriers that can reduce gene flow more strongly than elevational differences between foothill and
subalpine populations. Finally, we found that subalpine colonization did not result in a loss of genetic
diversity relative to foothill populations in agreement with the high migration rates that we document
here between the subalpine and the foothill populations. In summary, our study shows subalpine
Primula elatior populations are genetically diverse and distinct results of parallel colonization events
from multiple foothill gene pools.

Prvosenka vyšší (Primula elatior) se ve svém areálu vyskytuje v různých prostředích podél výškového gradientu, a proto představuje slibný model prostudium vlivu prostředí a genetického pozadí na vzhled rostliny. Genetickávariabilita jejích populací však nebyla dosud dostatečně studována. Poskytujeme tak prvotní vhled do populačně-genetické struktury tohoto druhu. Ke studiu nejen genetické diferenciace prvosenky vyšší jsme zvolili tři horské regiony – Jeseníky, Krkonoše a Tatry. Variabilitu horských a podhorských populacív těchto regionech jsme zhodnotili molekulární metodou – analýzou mikrosatelitů a také pomocí cytometrických a morfometrických metod.