Small scale spatial genetic structure of six tropical tree species in French Guiana

The small scale spatial genetic structure of six tropical tree species (Carapa procera, Chrysophyllum sanguinolentum, Dicorynia guianensis, Eperua grandiflora, Virola michelii, Vouacapoua americana) was studied for populations located within a sylvicultural trial in French Guiana. The analysed species have different biological and ecological characteristics with respect to spatial distribution, sexual system, pollen and seed dispersal agents, flowering phenology, and they differ in their environmental demands. The spatial position of trees and at least one data set on the genetic information for allozymes, cp-DNA marker, RAPDs and AFLPs served as basis for the analysis. As estimator for spatial genetic structure, Moran's index was computed for allozymes and cp-DNA markers, while for RAPDs and AFLPs mean Tanimoto distances between pairs of trees in different spatial distance classes were calculated. Each species showed significant spatial structure for at least one type of gene marker. The expansion of significant spatial genetic structures was relatively large and varied between 60m up to 800m. The strongest spatial autocorrelation was found for maternally inherited cp-DNA marker. Due to distinctly higher level of genetic variation, AFLPs and RAPDs were more sensitive to detect spatial structure than allozymes. Relations between the spatial genetic structures and the species' life characteristics are discussed.