Divergence among local populations of Eugenia dysenterica in response to edaphic patterns and spatial distribution

The domestication and management of native plant species for uses in agricu ltural systems is usually constrained by the absence of knowledge about gen etic variability, population structure and evolutionary processes involved in population differentiation in geographic space. A full understanding of these patterns and processes implies in analyzing multiple characters. In t his paper, differentiation among ten local populations of Eugenia dysenteri ca DC. from Southeastern region of Goias state, Central Brazil, was analyze d. Mantel tests were used to evaluate the relationships between genetic (ei ght loci from isozymes) and phenotypic (morphological and demographic chara cters) patterns of population differentiation, in relation to spatial distr ibution and edaphic differences among regions. The results from Mantel's te sts suggested that the main factor acting on genetic differentiation is the geographic distribution of local populations, in a stochastic model that b alances local drift within local population and short-distance gene flow am ong them. The phenotypic differentiation, on the other hand, is better expl ained by edaphic patterns and also by the geographic distribution. These re sults support the idea of neutral (or quasi-neutral) evolutionary processes in isozymic markers and shows that genetic divergence among local populati ons is highly structured in geographic space, independently of variations i n edaphic patterns and phenotypic variation.