Understanding the migratory patterns of genes in the clustered metapopulations of Paxistima canbyi across its entire range is important for conserving this species. This project, which is born out of a collaboration between scientists and experts from the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program and Bucknell University will assess the genetic diversity and phylogeography of two major disjunct Paxistima canbyi  (Canby's mountain lover or Cliff green, Celastraceae) populations - occupying the limestone-rich interior low plateaus of central Kentucky, Northern Tennessee, and southern Ohio, and the similarly limestone-rich central Appalachian mountains of southern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia - using a reduced-representation sequencing method i.e. Genotype-By-Sequencing (GBS). Data acquired through the Genotype-By-Sequencing (GBS) approach will be used to generate genomic libraries for assessing gene flow, genetic diversity, and migration patterns between other subpopulations and the phylogenetic relationships and historical introgression of populations within and between the two major disjunct Paxistima canbyi metapopulations.