Microsatellite data of 14 Avicennia marina populations from Mozambique Channel area

Mangrove forests are dynamic ecosystems found along sheltered low-lying coastal plains in warm-temperate, tropical and subtropical regions, predominantly on tidal flats, deltas, estuaries, bays, but also on oceanic atolls. These landforms present varied hydrodynamic and geomorphological settings for mangroves to establish and could influence the extent of propagule transport and subsequent regeneration. In this study, we examined whether these landform characteristics influence the genetic diversity and structure of Avicennia marina, one of the most abundant and widespread mangrove species. To do so, we considered 14 populations located in estuarine and coastal bay environments spread across the Western Indian Ocean region. A transect approach was considered to estimate kinship-based fine-scale spatial genetic structure using fifteen polymorphic microsatellite markers in 475 adult A. marina trees from 14 different populations. No overall significant difference was found in the levels of...