Conséquences génétiques des variations climatiques du quaternaire et distribution des espèces forestières néotropicales : l'exemple du palmier Astrocaryum sciophilum

TL;DRAbstract

Climatic variations from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) have greatly influenced the distribution of temperate species. In tropical regions, Haffer (1969) postulated that the high specific diversity of the Neotropics arose from allopatric speciation due to the fragmentation of the wet forest cover subsequent to Quaternary climate changes. However, such an effect of the climate still remains disputed. My PhD aimed at testing the genetic expectations of the Quaternary refuge theory, by studying the demographic history of Astrocaryum sciophilum, a palm endemic to the Guiana Shield. The use of nuclear microsatellites markers and chloroplast DNA allowed us to infirm the existence of refuges in French Guiana as previously postulated by de Granville (1982) and Tardy (1998). Moreover, although we showed that the wet forest became fragmented into two main groups, we were unable to detect any potential refuges in French Guiana. We further demonstrated the disappearance of the wet tropical forest

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