Spartina alterniflora Genet and Ramet Patterns Across Salt Marsh Tidal Gradients

935 Spartina alterniflora stems were sampled on a 1-meter grid across ten salt marsh patches and genotyped with ten microsatellite loci, revealing 223 multilocus lineage genets. The dataset, created by Jewel Tomasula and last updated in April 2026, examines the roles of mating portfolio and neutral mechanisms in shaping genet-ramet frequencies and spatial distributions. Patterns of clonal genotypes and their vegetative modules provide insights into the ecological genetics of a foundational coastal plant species.

Use Cases

• Analyzing genet and ramet frequency distributions based on microsatellite genotype data.
• Modeling spatial patterns of clonal expansion based on described intermediate aggregation and interspersion of ramets.
• Investigating the influence of tidal gradients and interspecific competition on genetic structure based on the described sampling across environmental gradients.
• Testing neutral sampling mechanisms against selective adaptation hypotheses based on the described genet and ramet distributions.

Strengths

• Includes genetic data from 935 sampled plant stems across ten distinct salt marsh patches.
• Genotyping was performed with ten microsatellite loci providing high exclusion probabilities.
• Spatial sampling was conducted on a precise 1-meter grid transect across natural environmental gradients.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for certain analyses.
• The dataset is small (471.2 KB), indicating a limited scope focused on a specific study area.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Field sampling of plant stems on grid transects followed by laboratory genotyping using microsatellite markers.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 22:01:21; freshness should be verified.

Geography

North American Atlantic coastal salt marshes (specific location not detailed).