Data from: Genetic evidence for a Janzen-Connell recruitment pattern in reproductive offspring of Pinus halepensis trees.

Effective seed dispersal, combining both dispersal and post-dispersal
(establishment) processes, determines population dynamics and colonization
ability in plants. According to the Janzen-Connell (JC) model, high
mortality near the mother plant shifts the offspring establishment
distribution farther away from the mother plant relative to the seed
dispersal distribution. Yet, extending this prediction to the distribution
of mature (reproductive) offspring remains a challenge for long-living
plants. To address this challenge we selected an isolated natural Aleppo
pine (Pinus halepensis) population in Mt. Pithulim (Israel), expanded from
five ancestor trees in the beginning of the 20th century into ~2000 trees
today. Using nine microsatellite markers, we assigned parents to trees
established during the early stages of population expansion. To elucidate
the effect of the distance from mother plant on post-dispersal survival,
we compared the effective seed dispersal kernel, constructed based on the
distribution of mother-offspring distances, to the seed dispersal kernel,
computed based on simulations of a mechanistic wind dispersal model. We
found that the mode of the effective dispersal kernel is shifted farther
away than the mode of the seed dispersal kernel, reflecting increased
survival with increasing distance from the mother plant. The parentage
analysis demonstrated a highly skewed reproductive success and a strong
directionality in effective dispersal corresponding to the wind regime. We
thus provide the first evidence that JC effects act also on offspring that
become reproductive and persisted as adults for many decades, a key
requirement in assessing the role of post-dispersal processes in shaping
population and community dynamics.