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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Climatic stability and contemporary human impacts affect the genetic diversity and conservation status of a tropical palm in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

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Author(s):
Carvalho, Carolina da Silva ; Ballesteros-Mejia, Liliana ; Ribeiro, Milton Cezar ; Cortes, Marina Correa ; Santos, Alesandro Souza ; Collevatti, Rosane Garcia
Total Authors: 6
Document type: Journal article
Source: CONSERVATION GENETICS; v. 18, n. 2, p. 467-478, APR 2017.
Web of Science Citations: 8
Abstract

Understanding how historical and current environmental suitability and human impacts affect the genetic diversity on a large scale is essential to species management planning. However, most studies in conservation genetics are carried out at a local or regional scale and rarely on broad spatial scales such as an entire biome. We evaluated the relative contribution of historical and current environmental suitability, current landscape features and human impacts to explain genetic diversity, allelic richness and inbreeding variation among populations, using Euterpe edulis and the Atlantic forest as the model system. We fitted linear mixed models within a multiple competing hypotheses approach with model selection based on Akaike's Information Criteria. We showed that overall genetic diversity was lower in sites with absence of large seed dispersers and higher in sites with historically stable climate. Both seedling and adults showed to be negatively influenced by human impact factors; with adults mainly affected by the reduction of forest cover while seedlings by the loss of large seed dispersers. Thus, the current pattern of genetic diversity in E. edulis is the result of historical instability during the mid-Holocene and recent anthropogenic impacts, mainly those that affect important ecological process such as seed dispersal. Thus, an efficient plan for species conservation must account for human impacts and environmental suitability and also assess the genetic diversity of seedlings and adults in fragmented landscapes. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 13/50421-2 - New sampling methods and statistical tools for biodiversity research: integrating animal movement ecology with population and community ecology
Grantee:Milton Cezar Ribeiro
Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
FAPESP's process: 14/01029-5 - Ecological and genetics effects of seed size variation in a defaunated landscape
Grantee:Carolina da Silva Carvalho
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate