Growing interest in metapopulation dynamics and dispersal at a landscape le
vel is promoting new approaches to the study of contemporary gene flow. The
se approaches have been fostered by the development of new genetic markers
and statistical methods, as well as an awareness that contemporary gene flo
w cannot be reliably estimated by conventional methods based on genetic str
ucture. Estimation of the spatial and temporal dynamics of:pollen and seed
movement with respect to extant landscape features can aid evolutionary and
conservation biologists in predicting the demographic and genetic response
s of species to naturally occurring or human-mediated population subdivisio
n.