Pseudophoenix sargentii, once a critically endangered palm inhabiting coastal areas of Florida and the Caribbean, has shown a marked increase since reintroductions have augmented the wild populations in the Florida Keys. The habitat of the Sargent’s cherry palm has been degraded by habitat destruction, agricultural encroachment, grazing, over-harvesting and hurricane effects. To assess the genetic contribution of the reintroductions and to understand the current genetic structure of the species, ten microsatellites were analyzed from 124 individuals. The individuals sampled came from wild populations in the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and the Fairchild ex situ collection. The individuals on Elliott Key, where reintroductions had occurred, had age classes and wild vs. reintroduced individuals analyzed separately.
Results/Conclusions
Several populations displayed evidence of genetic drift, inbreeding and decreased gene flow with all populations displaying significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. All populations displayed positive Fis values except the ex situ collection and the reintroduced individuals on Elliott Key. All pairwise Fst values were significant except comparisons between certain age classes on Elliott Key. AMOVA analysis partitioned 82.3% of the genetic variation within populations. Bayesian clustering analysis and PCA analysis showed three distinct populations. The reintroductions on Elliott Key have contributed to an increase in the overall genetic diversity of the focal stand by increasing heterozygosity and lowering the inbreeding coefficient.