Comparison of direct and indirect genetic methods for estimating seed and pollen dispersal in Fagus sylvatica and Fagus crenata

The comparison between estimates of historical gene flow, using variance in allelic frequencies, and estimates of contemporary gene flow, using parentage assignment, is expected to provide insights into ecological and evolutionary processes at work within and among populations. Genetic variation at microsatellite loci was used to quantify genetic structure in two wind pollinated, gravity and animal-dispersed tree species (Fagus sylvatica L. and Fagus crenata Blum.) and to derive historical estimates of gene flow. The gene dispersal distances estimated assuming effective population density to be 1/4 of the observed density were ∼77 m in European beech and ∼40 m in Japanese beech. Parentage analyses and a neighbourhood model approach were used to estimate contemporary patterns of seed and pollen dispersal. Our results suggest restricted seed dispersal abilities in both European beech (δs = 10.5 m) and Japanese beech (δs = 12.4 m), with an exponential shaped seed dispersal kernel. A non-negligible rate of seed immigration (ms = 27%) was detected in European beech sites but not in Japanese beech site. Pollen dispersal within studied sites also appeared limited (δp = 41.63 m in European beech and δp = 79.4 m in Japanese beech), despite high rate of pollen immigration (mp = 68% in European beech and mp = 40% m in Japanese beech). Interestingly, contemporary and historical estimates of gene flow were within the same order of magnitude (a few tens of meters).