Genetic connectivity and diversity in inselberg populations of Acacia woodmaniorum, a rare endemic of the Yilgarn Craton banded iron formations

Historically rare plant species with disjunct population distributions and small population sizes might be expected to show significant genetic structure and low levels of genetic diversity due to the effects of inbreeding and genetic drift. Across the globe terrestrial inselbergs are habitat for rich, often rare and endemic flora and are valuable systems for investigating evolutionary processes that shape patterns of genetic structure and levels of genetic diversity at the landscape scale. We assessed genetic structure and levels of genetic diversity across the range of the historically rare inselberg endemic Acacia woodmaniorum. Phylogeographic and genetic structure indicates that connectivity is not sufficient to produce a panmictic population across the limited geographic range of the species. However, historical levels of gene flow are sufficient to maintain a high degree of adaptive connectivity across the landscape. Genetic diversity indicates gene flow is sufficient to largely c...