The pollen dispersal kernel and mating system of an insect-pollinated tropical palm, Oenocarpus bataua

Pollen dispersal shapes the local genetic structure of plant populations and determines the opportunity for local selection and genetic drift, but has been well-studied in few animal-pollinated plants in tropical rainforests. Here, we characterize pollen movement for an insect-pollinated Neotropical canopy palm, Oenocarpus bataua, and relate these data to adult mating system and population genetic structure. The study covers a 130 ha parcel in which all adult trees (n=185) were mapped and genotyped at 12 microsatellite loci, allowing us to positively identify the source tree for 90% of pollination events (n=287 of 318 events). Mating system analysis showed O. bataua was effectively outcrossed (tm=1.02) with little biparental inbreeding (tm-ts=-0.005) and an average of 5.4 effective pollen donors (Nep) per female. Dispersal distances were relatively large for an insect-pollinated species (mean = 303 m, max = 1263 m), and far exceeded nearest neighbour distances. Dispersal kernel modellin...