Skip Navigation



AOBPreview published online on March 24, 2005
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mci128
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
95/7/1171    most recent
mci128v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by RIBEIRO, R. A.
Right arrow Articles by LOVATO, M. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by RIBEIRO, R. A.
Right arrow Articles by LOVATO, M. B.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by RIBEIRO, R. A.
Right arrow Articles by LOVATO, M. B.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org
Received September 27, 2004
Revised January 24, 2005
Accepted February 11, 2005

Article

Genetic Variation in Remnant Populations of Dalbergia nigra (Papilionoideae), an Endangered Tree from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

RENATA ACÁCIO RIBEIRO 1, ANA CAROLINA SIMÕES RAMOS 1, JOSÉ PIRES DE LEMOS FILHO 2, and MARIA BERNADETE LOVATO 1*

1 Departamento de Biologia Geral Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CP 486, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil
2 Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CP 486, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
MARIA BERNADETE LOVATO, E-mail: lovatomb{at}icb.ufmg.br


  Abstract

• Background and Aims Dalbergia nigra, known as Brazilian rosewood, is an endangered tree species restricted to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and has been intensively logged for five centuries due to its high-quality wood. The objective of the present study was to assess the genetic variation and structure in adults and saplings of the species from a large reserve of the Atlantic Forest, the Rio Doce State Park, and from two small surrounding fragments, one better preserved and another with a high degree of anthropogenic disturbance.

• Methods Analyses of genetic variation and structure were conducted by studying allozyme markers. Seven putative enzymatic loci were resolved, five of them being polymorphic.

• Key Results The mean numbers of alleles per locus (A) were 1·93 and 1·73, while the percentages of polymorphic loci (P) were 93 and 73 % for adults and saplings, respectively. Saplings from the fragment with high anthropogenic disturbance exhibited the lowest values of A and P. The fragment that constitutes a conservation area exhibited genetic variation similar to the population from the large reserve. The observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosities were not significantly different among the three populations. Only sapling populations showed FST values (divergence among populations) significantly different from zero over all studied loci. The fragment with high anthropogenic disturbance exhibited considerable genetic divergence in relation to the above-cited populations.

• Conclusions The evaluated populations displayed mean levels of genetic variation intermediate to those expected for narrow and widespread species. The results suggest that fragments with similar area and geographical distance from a large protected reserve can exhibit different levels of genetic variation, depending on the degree of anthropogenic disturbance. The considerable genetic variation in the protected fragment points to the importance of adequate conservation of small fragments for the preservation of genetic variation in D. nigra.

Keywords: Allozymes, anthropogenic disturbance, Brazilian Atlantic Forest, Brazilian rosewood, conservation, Dalbergia nigra, endangered tree species, genetic variation, habitat fragmentation.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.