Data from: Small but not isolated: a population genetic survey of the tropical tree Cariniana estrellensis (Lecythidaceae) in a highly fragmented habitat

Here, we explore the mating pattern and genetic structure of a tropical
tree species, Cariniana estrellensis, in a small population in which
progeny arrays (n=399), all adults (n=28) and all seedlings (n=39) were
genotyped at nine highly informative microsatellite loci. From progeny
arrays we were able to identify the source tree for at least 78% of
pollination events. The gene immigration rates, mainly attributable to
pollen, were high, varying from 23.5 to 53%. Although gene dispersal over
long distance was observed, the effective gene dispersal distances within
the small population were relatively short, with mean pollination
distances varying from 69.9 to 146.9 m, and seed dispersal distances
occurring up to a mean of 119.6 m. Mating system analyses showed that C.
estrellensis is an allogamous species (tm=0.999), with both biparental
inbreeding (tm−ts=−0.016) and selfing rates (s=0.001) that are not
significantly different from zero. Even though the population is small,
the presence of private alleles in both seedlings and progeny arrays and
the elevated rates of gene immigration indicate that the C. estrellensis
population is not genetically isolated. However, genetic diversity
expressed by allelic richness was significantly lower in postfragmentation
life stages. Although there was a loss of genetic diversity, indicating
susceptibility of C. estrellensis to habitat fragmentation, no evidence of
inbreeding or spatial genetic structure was observed across generations.
Overall, C. estrellensis showed some resilience to negative genetic
effects of habitat fragmentation, but conservation strategies are needed
to preserve the remaining genetic diversity of this population.