Abstract
Euterpe edulis (Arecaceae) Mart has high ecological and economic importance providing food resources for more than 58 species of birds and 20 species of mammals, including humans. E. edulis is the second most exploited nontimber product from Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Due to overexploitation and destruction of habitats, E. edulis is threatened by extinction. Euterpe edulis populations have large morphological variations, with individuals having green, red, or yellow leaf sheath. However, no study has related phenotypic distinctions between populations and their levels of genetic structure. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the diversity and genetic structure of different E. edulis morphotypes. We sampled 250 adult individuals in eight populations with the different morphotypes. Using 14 microsatellite markers, we access genetic diversity through population genetic parameters calculated in the GenAlex program and the diveRsity package in R. We used the Wilcoxon test to verify population bottlenecks and the genetic distance of Nei and Bayesian analysis for genetic clusters. The eight populations showed low allele richness, low observed heterozygosity, and high inbreeding values (f). In addition, six of the eight populations experienced genetic bottlenecks, which would partly explain the low genetic diversity in populations. Cluster analysis identified two clusters (K = 2), with green morphotype genetically distinguishing from yellow and red morphotypes. Thus, we show, for the first time, a strong genetic structure among E. edulis morphotypes even for geographically close populations.
Highlights
Arecaceae is the family of Palms and has pantropical distribution, with about 183 genera and 2,400 species (Dransfield et al, 2008)
For the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, 61 Arecaceae species are found, which are in constant risk of being lost due to the exacerbated loss of their natural habitat (Benchimol et al, 2016; Leitman et al, 2015)
There is a low genetic diversity in the eight populations of E. edulis when considering the richness of alleles compared to other populations of the species, using microsatellite markers (Carvalho et al, 2015, 2017; Conte, Sedrez Dos Reis, Mantovani, & Vencovsky, 2008)
Summary
Arecaceae is the family of Palms and has pantropical distribution, with about 183 genera and 2,400 species (Dransfield et al, 2008). Arecaceae species are key components of forest structuring and are important because they provide fruits and seeds that maintain a high richness of frugivores in these environments (Benchimol et al, 2016; Elena et al, 2014; Galetti et al, 2013). In Brazil, 37 genera and 297 species of Arecaceae are found, being approximately 46% of these endemic species Euterpe edulis Mart (Arecaceae) has a great ecological and economic relevance (Carvalho, Galetti, Colevatti, & Jordano, 2016; Elena et al, 2014; Galetti et al, 2013; Reis et al, 2000). Euterpe edulis seeds and fruits are important food resources for about 58 bird species and 20 mammal species playing an important ecological role in maintaining the diversity of frugivores in the Atlantic Forest (Galetti et al, 2013). In addition to the negative impacts of predatory harvesting, the reduction and fragmentation of the Atlantic Forest further threaten this species (Carvalho, Ribeiro, Côrtes, Galetti, & Collevatti, 2015; Fleury & Galetti, 2006; Santos, Cazetta, Dodonov, Faria, & Gaiotto, 2016)
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