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Seed and pollen dispersal and fine-scale spatial genetic structure of a threatened tree species: Pericopsis elata (HARMS) Meeuwen (Fabaceae)

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Abstract

Seed and pollen dispersal are important for defining sustainable forest management practices. By reducing population density, selective logging could affect not only the seed production of timber species but also the selfing rate and the patterns of seed and pollen rains. To assess these risks, we characterized seed and pollen dispersal patterns and the fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) of Pericopsis elata, a gregarious, wind-dispersed legume tree which is highly logged in Central Africa and threatened by overexploitation. Eleven microsatellite markers were used to genotype 189 adults and 664 seedlings in a 4 km2 plot in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to the neighbourhood model, seed dispersal was extremely leptokurtic, with 80% of seeds dispersal distances <75 m, 15% >500 m. Pollen dispersal was locally more extensive (median distance 260 m), but pollen immigration was not detected, and the selfing rate (54%) appeared particularly high compared to other tropical tree species. Limited gene dispersal resulted in remarkably high FSGS (Sp = 0.072). A decay of inbreeding with age also suggests that the species is prone to inbreeding depression. The reproductive success of trees was positively related to their diameter at breast height (dbh), with half of the progeny mothered by trees with dbh > 97 cm and fathered by trees with dbh > 119 cm. Our study highlights that (1) seed sources must be diversified for plantation or population reinforcement to limit consanguinity, and (2) the legal minimum cutting diameter in DRC (60 cm) should be increased to maintain enough post-logging reproductive potential.

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Data availability

The genotypes, diameters, and spatial coordinates of the trees within the 400 ha plot are available in the TreeGenes Database under code TGDR368 (https://treegenesdb.org/completed-submission/TGDR368).

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the entire EBE team and their constructive reviews and comments that have helped us to improve our manuscript. We also thank the Compagnie Forestière et de Transformation (CFT), and especially the General Director K. Ammacha, for hosting us during our fieldwork, as well as all the technicians of the Ecology and Forest Management Laboratory (LECAFOR)/UNIKIS for their help during the collection of samples. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and Grace Ridder for checking the text.

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Funding

This research was supported by the “FCCC” and “FORETS” project, funded by the European Union, and implemented at the University of Kisangani by CIFOR in collaboration with Resources and Synergies Development, through the award of a doctoral fellowship to DMAA, which allowed us to work successfully at the Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology “EBE”. Molecular analyses were funded by the F.R.S-FNRS WISD grant X.3040.17 (project AFRITIMB). This research was also backed by the N3-GeForCo Project, funded by the Belgian Cooperation and implemented by the Royal Museum for Central Africa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculté de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles Renouvelables, Université de Kisangani, B.P. 2012, Av. Kitima, 3, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo

    Dieu - Merci Assumani Angbonda

  2. Laboratoire d’Ecologie et Aménagement Forestier (LECAFOR), Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo

    Dieu - Merci Assumani Angbonda & Faustin Boyemba

  3. Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Unit CP 160/12, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Av. F. D. Roosevelt 50, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Dieu - Merci Assumani Angbonda, Franck K. Monthe & Olivier J. Hardy

  4. Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, 3080, Tervuren, Belgium

    Nils Bourland

  5. Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, 16115, Indonesia

    Nils Bourland

  6. Resources & Synergies Development Pte Ltd, Hong Leong Building, Singapore, 048581, Singapore

    Nils Bourland

  7. Faculté des Sciences, Université de Kisangani, B.P. 2012, Av. Kitima, 3, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo

    Faustin Boyemba

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Angbonda, D..M.A., Monthe, F.K., Bourland, N. et al. Seed and pollen dispersal and fine-scale spatial genetic structure of a threatened tree species: Pericopsis elata (HARMS) Meeuwen (Fabaceae). Tree Genetics & Genomes 17, 27 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-021-01509-8

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