Population genetic structure of an extremely logged tree species Guaiacum sanctum L. in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
| Autor: | Víctor Rocha-Ramírez, Ken Oyama, Juan Manuel Peñaloza-Ramírez, Esmeralda G. Armenta-Medina, Miguel Martínez-Ramos, Paulina Hernández-Soto |
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| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
education.field_of_study Genetic diversity Habitat fragmentation Ecology Population Plant Science Biology biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Gene flow Population bottleneck Effective population size Genetic structure education 010606 plant biology & botany Guaiacum sanctum |
| Zdroj: | Botanical Sciences. 94:345-356 |
| ISSN: | 2007-4476 2007-4298 |
| Popis: | Habitat disturbance in tropical forests has affected the viability of several tree species. In Mexico, populations of Guaiacum sanctum have disappeared in some regions due to a strong habitat reduction which could endanger the genetic diversity and connectivity of remnant populations. In this study, 17 populations from the Yucatán Peninsula were analyzed with seven nuclear microsatellites. Several parameters describing the genetic diversity were estimated. The genetic structure was evaluated using Bayesian cluster analysis. Population bottlenecks, effective population size, and genetic connectivity were estimated. Populations of G. sanctum showed high values of genetic diversity. Two genetic groups with contrasting distributions were detected, the first one located in northern Yucatán and Quintana Roo and the second, in southern Campeche. Evidence of population bottleneck was detected only for Campeche populations. Also, we found indications of significant levels of inbreeding and a low effective population size. The connectivity analysis revealed exchange among populations of G. sanctum but the habitat fragmentation may act to impede gene flow, contributing to the division observed between clusters. This genetic differentiation was possibly caused by environmental pressures, although effects of historical extensive logging practices occurred in southern Mexico during the last few decades cannot be discarded. Fragmentation has a negative effect on ecosystem services and on the availability of favorable sites for seedling establishment, which could disturb pollination and dispersion processes, modifying in the long term the effective population size. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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