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Fragmentation reduces regional-scale spatial genetic structure in a wind-pollinated tree because genetic barriers are removed.

ABSTRACT: Gene flow strongly influences the regional genetic structuring of plant populations. Seed and pollen dispersal patterns can respond differently to the increased isolation resulting from habitat fragmentation, with unpredictable consequences for gene flow and population structuring. In a recently fragmented landscape we compared the pre- and post-fragmentation genetic structure of populations of a tree species where pollen and seed dispersal respond differentially to forest fragmentation generated by flooding. Castanopsis sclerophylla is wind-pollinated, with seeds that are dispersed by gravity and rodents. Using microsatellites, we found no significant difference in genetic diversity between pre- and post-fragmentation cohorts. Significant genetic structure was observed in pre-fragmentation cohorts, due to an unknown genetic barrier that had isolated one small population. Among post-fragmentation cohorts this genetic barrier had disappeared and genetic structure was significantly weakened. The strengths of genetic structuring were at a similar level in both cohorts, suggesting that overall gene flow of C. sclerophylla has been unchanged by fragmentation at the regional scale. Fragmentation has blocked seed dispersal among habitats, but this appears to have been compensated for by enhanced pollen dispersal, as indicated by the disappearance of a genetic barrier, probably as a result of increased wind speeds and easier pollen movement over water. Extensive pollen flow can counteract some negative effects of fragmentation and assist the long-term persistence of small remnant populations.

SUBMITTER: Wang R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3488675 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Fragmentation reduces regional-scale spatial genetic structure in a wind-pollinated tree because genetic barriers are removed.

Wang Rong R Compton Stephen G SG Shi Yi-Su YS Chen Xiao-Yong XY

Ecology and evolution 20120805 9

Gene flow strongly influences the regional genetic structuring of plant populations. Seed and pollen dispersal patterns can respond differently to the increased isolation resulting from habitat fragmentation, with unpredictable consequences for gene flow and population structuring. In a recently fragmented landscape we compared the pre- and post-fragmentation genetic structure of populations of a tree species where pollen and seed dispersal respond differentially to forest fragmentation generate ...[more]

PMID: 23139883

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Project description:Gene flow tends to have a homogenising effect on a species' background genetic variation over large geographical areas. However, it is usually unknown to what extent the genetic structure of populations is influenced by gene exchange between core and peripheral populations that may represent stands of different evolutionary and demographic history. In this study, we looked at the patterns of population differentiation in Scots pine-a highly outcrossing and wind pollinated conifer species that forms large ecosystems of great ecological and economic importance in Europe and Asia. A set of 13 polymorphic nuclear microsatellite loci was analysed to infer the genetic relationships among 24 populations (676 individuals) from Europe and Asia Minor. The study included specimens from the primary continuous range and from isolated, marginal stands that are considered to be autochthonous populations representative of the species' putative refugial areas. Despite their presumably different histories, a similar level of genetic variation and no evidence of a population bottleneck was found across the populations. Differentiation among populations was relatively low (average FST = 0.035); however, the population structure was not homogenous, which was clearly evident from the allelic frequency spectra and Bayesian assignment analysis. Significant differentiation over short geographical distances was observed between isolated populations within the Iberian and Anatolian Peninsulas (Asia Minor), which contrasted with the absence of genetic differentiation observed between distant populations e.g., between central and northern Europe. The analysed populations were assigned to several groups that corresponded to the geographical regions of their occurrence. These results will be useful in genetics studies in Scots pine that aim to link nucleotide and phenotypic variation across the species distribution range and for development of sustainable breeding and management programs.

Dataset Information

Fragmentation reduces regional-scale spatial genetic structure in a wind-pollinated tree because genetic barriers are removed.

Publications

Fragmentation reduces regional-scale spatial genetic structure in a wind-pollinated tree because genetic barriers are removed.

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