The ancient tropical rainforest tree Symphonia globulifera L. f. (Clusiaceae) was not restricted to postulated Pleistocene refugia in Atlantic Equatorial Africa.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the history of forests and their species' demographic responses to past disturbances is important for predicting impacts of future environmental changes. Tropical rainforests of the Guineo-Congolian region in Central Africa are believed to have survived the Pleistocene glacial periods in a few major refugia, essentially centred on mountainous regions close to the Atlantic Ocean. We tested this hypothesis by investigating the phylogeographic structure of a widespread, ancient rainforest tree species, Symphonia globulifera L. f. (Clusiaceae), using plastid DNA sequences (chloroplast DNA [cpDNA], psbA-trnH intergenic spacer) and nuclear microsatellites (simple sequence repeats, SSRs). SSRs identified four gene pools located in Benin, West Cameroon, South Cameroon and Gabon, and

SUBMITTER: Budde KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3692313 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature