METHODOLOGY ARTICLE Capturing chloroplast vari p

an Landscape-scale studies of phylogenetic patterns and popu-lation dynamics across one or more species can reveal the source for studies of the evolution and molecular ecol-ogy of plants at a range of taxonomic levels. Because it McPherson et al. BMC Ecology 2013, 13:8 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6785/13/8evolution of the chloroplast genome [3,9]. This isand Environmental Science, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia Full list of author information is available at the end of the articlegenetic signatures of contrasting temporal responses to environmental change among diverse functional groups. Such information is critical for understanding how species are distributed, how communities are assembled, and in recognising different susceptibilities to threats and change [1]. is predominantly uniparentally inherited, has a low mu-tation rate, and does not recombine, it can be used to construct lineage genealogies that can be analysed in a spatial context [2,3]. For example, chloroplast DNA-based studies have revealed the postglacial recolonisa-tion routes of many plants, including Quercus [4,5], Fraxinus [6], Pinus [7], and Eucalyptus [8]. A limitation of chloroplast markers is that the level of variation is often low compared with nuclear, or mito-chondrial markers in animals, due to the slow rate o