Geographic patterns of genetic diversity in North American trees: a continent-wide analysis

Abstract

In the Northern Hemisphere, many species have been reported to have greater genetic diversity in southern populations than northern populations — ostensibly due to migration northward following the last glacial maximum. The generality of this pattern, while well-established for some taxa, remains unclear for North American trees. To address this issue, I collected published population genetics data for 73 North American tree species and tested whether genetic diversity was associated with latitude or longitude and whether geographic trends were associated with dispersal traits, range, or study characteristics. I found there were no general geographic patterns in genetic diversity and the strength of the geographic gradients was not associated with any species or study characteristics. The northern and western regions of North America tended to have more species with genetic diversity that declined with latitude, but most species had no significant trend. This work shows that North American trees have complex and individualistic patterns of genetic diversity that may negate explanation by any particular dispersal trait or range characteristic.