Abstract
Key message
Although all populations show extensive pollen immigration, the occurrence of spatial genetic structure and biparental inbreeding decreased genetic diversity and effective population size.
Abstract
The Brazilian savanna is the second largest Neotropical biome, and a globally important biodiversity hotspot. Basic knowledge of the ecology and genetics of its species can help conserve this important biome. We investigated genetic diversity, spatial genetic structure (SGS), pollen dispersal, and mating system in three Hymenaea stigonocarpa populations (AS, PE, IT) in the Brazilian savanna, using microsatellite loci and samples of adult trees from all populations and seeds from the IT population. As a result of the long geographic distance between populations, the genetic differentiation among them was high (0.397). Individuals of the IT population presented a grouped distribution due to root propagation, resulting in low genotypic richness (\(\mathrm{GR}\) = 0.194) and allelic richness (\(R\) = 4), and high SGS (\(\mathrm{Sp}\) = 0.064) compared to AS and PE (\(\mathrm{GR}\) > 0.98, R > 5, \(\mathrm{Sp}\) < 0.026) populations. The IT population showed high pollen immigration (46.4%), pollen dispersal distance (up to 3.57 km), and outcrossing rate (0.934–1.0), but matings were correlated (0.01–1), and some occurred among relatives (up to 0.098), resulting in some inbred seeds (0.140), a lower variance effective population size (\({N}_{e}\) = 3.02) than expected with random mating, and an estimate of 50 seed-trees required to retain an \({N}_{e}\) of 150 in samples of maternal progeny. The estimated minimum viable area to retain a reference (\({N}_{\mathrm{er}}\)) of 1000 indicates that the current AS and IT population areas are insufficient to maintain viable populations in the long-term, demonstrating the importance of maintaining surrounding areas for conservation of these H. stigonocarpa populations.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for providing financial support for this research (07/06648-1) and a scholarship (Grant number 06/59386-1) to Maria A. Moreno. Alexandre M. Sebbenn and Evandro V. Tambarussi are supported by CNPq research fellowships. We thank the Beatriz Appezzato-Da-Gloria by provide the photo of root propagation in Hymenaea stigonocarpa in the Itirapina (IT) population.
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The research was funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for providing financial support for this research (07/06648-1) and a scholarship (Grant number 06/59386-1) to Maria A. Moreno.
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Moreno, M.A., Boshier, D., Tarazi, R. et al. Long distance pollen dispersal and intrapopulation genetic structure determined by clonal diversity in Hymenaea stigonocarpa populations of the Brazilian savanna. Trees 36, 471–484 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-021-02222-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-021-02222-8