Spatial genetic structure of two conifers in a highly human-modified landscape of central Mexico

Forests have been globally reduced by unprecedented rates of deforestation and habitat transformation, which can affect the species’ genetic structure. Understanding patterns of spatial genetic structure is fundamental for proposing conservation actions that contribute to their long-term persistence. This study evaluated the spatial genetic structure and the effects of landscape features on gene flow in two conifers, Abies religiosa and Pinus montezumae, with different successional affinities in the temperate forest of La Malinche National Park (LMNP) in central Mexico, which exhibits a complex topography and high land-use changes. We recovered 7,326 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for A. religiosa and 34,423 for P. montezumae across 12 sites in four mountain slopes. Clustering analyses did not reveal genetic structure in both species, and Moran Eigenvector Maps showed that only 3% of the genetic variation was spatially structured in A. religiosa, whereas in P. montezumae the mod..., Three collection sites were established on each slope of the La Malinche National Park (12 in total). In each population, five 1,000 m2 circular plots were randomly located, separated by at least 50 m from edge to edge. Within each plot, vegetative tissue was collected from at least five individuals for each species, separated from one another by at least 30 m. For dehydration and further processing, all samples were stored in resealable bags with silica gel and labeled with the species name, population, cohort (adults, ≥10 m in height; seedlings, < 0.5 m in height; Ramírez-Marcial et al. 2001), and geographic coordinates.
Genomic DNA was extracted with the Plant Pro Kit (Qiagen). DNA was quantified with the PicoGreen fluorometric method using a NanoDrop™ ND 3300 fluorospectrometer (Thermo Scientific). Libraries were prepared in the Institute of Integrative Biology and Systems (IBIS) at the University of Laval by double digestion (ddRADSeq) using the enzymes PstI and MspI. Sequencing..., , # Spatial genetic structure of two conifers in a highly human-modified landscape of central Mexico

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9ghx3ffqw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9ghx3ffqw)

There are two VCF files and two txt files with population data of each species (*Pïnus montezumae* and *Abies religiosa*). The VCF files are neutral SNPs obtained by double digestion (ddRADSeq) using the enzymes PstI and MspI.

## Description of the data and file structure

VCF files (SNPAbiesNeutrales.recode.vcf and SNPPinusNeutrales.recode.vcf): *Abies religiosa* file has 7326 neutral snps from 48 individuals of nine populations of La Malinche National Park, Mexico. While *Pinus montezumae* file has 34,423 neutral snps from 70 individuals of 12 populations of La Malinche National Park, Mexico. These file can be used if it is correctly cited.

TXT files (Abies48IndsCategories.txt and Pinus70IndsCategories.txt) : Each file has information about Id of each individual (INDIVIDUALS), population (POP), level o...,