Zhi‐Cong Dai;Chun-Can Si;De‐Li Zhai;Ping Huang;Shanshan Qi;Ying-Hsuan Lin;Ruiping Wang;Qi Zhong;Daolin D

College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, People's Republic of China;Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education and Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, People’s Republic of Chin;Institute of Environment and Ecology, Academy of Environmental Health and Ecological Security, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, People’s Republic of China;Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education and Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, People’s Republic of China; World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Central and East-Asia Office, Kunming, People’s Republic of China;Centre for Mountain Ecosystem Studies (CMES), Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, People’s Republic of China

Endangered plant;Genetic variability;Human disturbance;Tropical forest;Vatica mangachapoi;SEED DISPERSAL;DIVERSITY;POPULATIONS;CHINA;CONSERVATION;PATTERNS;FOREST;FRAGMENTATION;MARKERS;POLLE

The endangered Vatica mangachapoi, a long-lived, tropical tree with economic and ecological importance found in Hainan, China, was used to assess the hypothesis that historical human activities in Hainan's tropical rain forest could have negative effects on the genetic diversity of V. mangachapoi. Three hundred and twenty individuals from 11 natural populations-which were classified into three groups according to levels of disturbance-were sampled and analyzed with ISSR markers. Although genetic diversity of V. mangachapoi is high at the species level, it is relatively low within populations. A significant genetic differentiation occurs among different disturbance levels. Significant isolation-by-distance indicated relevant historical anthropogenic changes. Our findings showed that historical human disturbances significantly increase the genetic differentiation and slightly decrease the genetic diversity of long-lived tree V. mangachapoi. Relevant targeting conservation actions were recommended.