Evolutionary drivers of reproductive fitness in two endangered forest trees.

Population genetics theory predicts a relationship between fitness, genetic diversity (H) and effective population size (N), which is often tested through heterozygosity-fitness correlations (HFCs). We tested whether population and individual fertility and heterozygosity are correlated in two endangered Mexican spruces (Picea martinezii and Picea mexicana) by combining genomic, demographic and reproductive data (seed development and germination traits). For both species, there was a positive correlation between population size and seed development traits, but not germination rate.

Assisted migration and the rare endemic plant species: the case of two endangered Mexican spruces.

Background: In the projected climate change scenarios, assisted migration might play an important role in the conservation of the threatened plant species, by translocate them to similar suitable habitats outside their native distributions. However, it is unclear if such habitats will be available for the Rare Endemic Plant Species (REPS), because of their very restricted habitats. The aims of this study were to perform a population size assessment for the REPS Patterson and Martínez, and to evaluate the potential species distributions and their possibilities for assisted migration inside México and worldwide.