Contemporary and historic factors influence differently genetic differentiation and diversity in a tropical palm.

ABSTRACT: Population genetics theory predicts loss in genetic variability because of drift and inbreeding in isolated plant populations; however, it has been argued that long-distance pollination and seed dispersal may be able to maintain gene flow, even in highly fragmented landscapes. We tested how historical effective population size, historical migration and contemporary landscape structure, such as forest cover, patch isolation and matrix resistance, affect genetic variability and differentiation of seedlings in a tropical palm (Euterpe edulis) in a human-modified rainforest. We sampled 16 sites within five landscapes in the Brazilian Atlantic forest and assessed genetic variability and differentiation using eight microsatellite loci. Using a model selection approach, none of the covariates exp

SUBMITTER: da Silva Carvalho C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4814231 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature