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Patterns of genetic diversity in Phoenix canariensis, a widespread oceanic palm (species) endemic from the Canarian archipelago

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Abstract

Understanding how genetic diversity is structured on oceanic island taxa requires the integration of physical, biological and anthropomorphic factors. Founder effects coupled with limited dispersal over sea barriers typically result in low levels of genetic variation in island populations. In widespread species, restriction in gene flow across large areas leads to patterns of isolation by distance (IBD), but recent population-based studies indicate that genetic structure on islands can be complex even at local scales. Here, we investigated the patterns of genetic variation in a widespread island palm (Phoenix canariensis) displaying reproductive syndromes associated with extensive dispersal (wind pollination and zoochory). Genetic variation was assessed at eight nuclear microsatellite loci in 330 individuals of 15 Canarian populations. Our results showed that levels of within-population genetic diversity in P. canariensis depend on the island considered, with a strong decreasing pattern from the easternmost and oldest island to the westernmost and youngest islands. A Mantel test supported a stepping-stone model of differentiation across the archipelago that fits the sequence of island emergence, and results from ABC and clustering analyses also corresponded with this progression rule. In addition, our analyses were congruent with the idea that the only large population found on Lanzarote has an anthropogenic origin. Despite the high dispersal potential of P. canariensis, our analyses suggest that the geographical configuration of the Canary Islands and a relatively recent pattern of differentiation across islands appear to have had a primary influence on the genetic structure of this island taxon.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank to all those people who made possible the sampling of populations, especially the Company GESPLAN (specifically to Francisco Alarcón, Carlos Izquierdo, Yolanda Betancor and Lina Bonet), Cabildos Insulares (especially to José A. Delgado (Cabildo de Tenerife), Julio Leal (Cabildo de La Palma) and Marco Márquez (Cabildo de Gran Canaria)) and friends such as María J. Fernández, to offer their collaboration in this project during the sampling. Thanks to Isabelle Dupanloup (University of Bern) for her useful comments about spatial analysis of molecular variance performed by SAMOVA software. We also thank Oliver Hardy for his statistical advice in results from phylogeographical signal with our molecular markers. Constantino Criado (Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de La Laguna) and J. Alfredo Reyes-Betancort (Instituto Canario de Investigaciones Agrarias) provided useful information regarding the presence of P. canariensis in historical records about the Lanzarote island. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Project CGL2009—10215) to Pedro A. Sosa as main researcher.

Ethical standards

The research conducted was in compliance with the laws of the country in which the research was conducted.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Data archiving statement

Genotype data are available at Research Gate (www.researchgate.net) (doi: 10.13140/2.1.4627.4248)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología, Campus de Tafira, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), 35017, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

    Isabel Saro, Miguel A. González-Pérez & Pedro A. Sosa

  2. Departamento de Biodiversidad Molecular y Banco de ADN, Jardín Botánico Canario “Viera y Clavijo”- Unidad Asociada CSIC, Cabildo de Gran Canaria, 35017, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

    Miguel A. González-Pérez & Carlos García-Verdugo

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  1. Isabel Saro
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  2. Miguel A. González-Pérez
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  3. Carlos García-Verdugo
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  4. Pedro A. Sosa
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Correspondence to Isabel Saro.

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Communicated by P. Ingvarsson

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Saro, I., González-Pérez, M.A., García-Verdugo, C. et al. Patterns of genetic diversity in Phoenix canariensis, a widespread oceanic palm (species) endemic from the Canarian archipelago. Tree Genetics & Genomes 11, 815 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-014-0815-0

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