GENE DISPERSAL AND SPATIAL GENETIC-STRUCTURE

Spatial autocorrelation statistics have been studied in theoretical po pulation genetic models and widely used in experimental studies of spa tial structure in many plant and animal populations. However, the stat istical properties of spatial autocorrelation statistics have remained uncharacterized. Little is known about how values of spatial autocorr elation statistics in population samples depend on the level of disper sal and scheme of sampling. In this paper, we characterize the statist ical properties of join-count spatial autocorrelation statistics for p opulation genetic surveys under various conditions of dispersal and sa mpling. The results indicate generally high statistical power. These r esults can provide a method to estimate gene dispersal based on standi ng spatial patterns of genetic variation observed within populations.