Gene flow and effective population size in Lepanthes (Orchidaceae): a case for genetic drift
Open Access
- 1 January 2001
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
- Vol. 72 (1) , 47-62
- https://doi.org/10.1006/bijl.2000.0485
Abstract
Genetic drift can play an important role in population differentiation, particularly when effective population sizes are small and gene flow is limited. Such conditions are suspected to be common in the species-rich Orchidaceae. We investigated the likelihood of genetic drift in natural populations of three endemic species of Lepanthes (Orchidaceae) from Puerto Rico. We estimated effective population size, Ne, using three ecologically based methods. Two of the three estimates were based on variance in reproductive potential and the third was based on coalescence time. All estimates of Ne were usually ST, 6; θ.248, 0.266, 0.293; L. rupestris, 0.148, 0.169, 0.138; L. eltoroensis, 0.251, 0.219, 0.218, respectively). Genetic drift is likely to be important for population differentiation in Lepanthes as a result of small effective population sizes and restricted gene flow.Keywords
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