The study of genetic diversity patterns of Emphas

Authors: Sarada Krishnan Tom A Ranker Aaron P Davis Jean Jacques Rakotomalala

Publish Date: 2012/07/24

Volume: 9, Issue: 1, Pages: 179-187

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Abstract

Madagascar has 59 described species of Coffea of which 42 are listed as critically endangered endangered or vulnerable by the criteria of the Red List Category system of the World Conservation Union IUCN The littoral forest of Madagascar is a distinctive type of humid evergreen forest restricted to unconsolidated sand located within a few kilometers of the Indian Ocean now persisting only as small fragments with ca 10  of its original range remaining In an attempt to understand the genetic diversity of Madagascan coffee species we studied ex situ and in situ populations of Coffea commersoniana an endemic species of the littoral forests of southeastern Madagascar and soon to be impacted by mining activities in that region The in situ populations studied showed higher genetic diversity than the ex situ population The genetic partitioning among the two in situ populations of C commersoniana was high enough to necessitate keeping the two populations separate for restoration purposes Based on these findings recommendations for conservation management in situ and ex situ are madeThis work was supported by grants to S Krishnan from the Association of Zoological Horticulture Conservation the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Beverly Sears program of the Graduate Division We thank Dr Franck Rakotonasolo Ueshima Coffee Corporation and the teams of National Center of Applied Research and Rural Development FOFIFA QIT Madagascar Minerals QMM and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Madagascar Kew Madagascar Conservation Center—KMCC for their valuable collaboration and field support

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