Data from: Capturing neutral and adaptive genetic diversity for conservation in a highly structured tree species

Preserving intraspecific genetic diversity is essential for long-term
forest sustainability in a climate change scenario. Despite that, genetic
information is largely neglected in conservation planning, and how
conservation units should be defined is still heatedly debated. Here, we
use maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.), an outcrossing long lived tree
with a highly fragmented distribution in the Mediterranean biodiversity
hotspot, to prove the importance of accounting for genetic variation - at
both neutral molecular markers and quantitative traits - to define useful
conservation units. Six gene pools associated to distinct evolutionary
histories were identified within the species using 12 microsatellites and
266 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). In addition, height and
survival standing variation, their genetic control and plasticity were
assessed in a multisite clonal common garden experiment (16,544 trees). We
found high levels of quantitative genetic differentiation within
previously defined neutral gene pools. Subsequent cluster analysis and
post-hoc trait distribution comparisons allowed us to define ten
genetically homogeneous population groups with high evolutionary
potential. They constitute the minimum number of units to be represented
in a maritime pine dynamic conservation program. Our results uphold that
the identification of conservation units below the species level should
account for key neutral and adaptive components of genetic diversity,
especially in species with strong population structure and complex
evolutionary histories. The environmental zonation approach currently used
by the pan-European genetic conservation strategy for forest trees would
be largely improved by gradually integrating molecular and quantitative
trait information, as data become available.