Genetic insights into the historical distribution of Polylepis pauta (Rosaceae) in the northeastern Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador

Scattered patches of Polylepis forest that occur within the 3,000–4,500 m altitudinal belt of the Andean Cordillera from Venezuela to Argentina have been hypothesized to be remnants of once continuous forests whose range became fragmented through anthropogenic activities that probably preceded the Spanish conquest. Allozyme variation of Polylepis pauta from 12 forest populations in three adjacent watersheds in Northeastern Ecuador was investigated to assess whether observed patterns of gene diversity were consistent with a more continuous historical range of the species and to evaluate the populations’ potential for restoration. Genetic diversity and polymorphism in P. pauta populations were higher than mean values for most wind pollinated and dispersed temperate and tropical tree species with regional distributions. Genetic differentiation among watersheds was lower than among populations within each watershed. Isolation by distance was not evident and several populations from different watersheds were more genetically similar than populations from the same watershed. Larger forest patches with broader altitudinal ranges had more alleles. Forest patches on steeper slopes and at higher elevations supported populations with less genetic diversity; this might have resulted from the predominance of vegetative reproduction in these landslide prone areas. The amount of genetic diversity maintained by P. pauta, coupled with low genetic differentiation among populations within and among watersheds, is consistent with a more continuous historical range of the species in Northeastern Ecuador and point to the Oyacachi basin as having the highest levels of genetic diversity.