Forest inventory and the genetic diversity of the remaining fragment of Hymenaea courbaril L.

Abstract

Hymenaea courbaril is a rare species in the riparian areas of the state of Sergipe, Brazil. This species is known as Brazilian cherry or Brazilian copal and it occurs in fragments of the Rainy Forest and in the transition zones between the Rainy Forest and the Caatinga Biomes. This work was carried out, in order to quantify the genetic diversity of the remaining population of Brazilian cherry, by RAPD markers. In a studied area of 100 ha in the low course of the São Francisco River, only 15 individuals were observed. The analyzed parameters were as follows: Jaccard’s genetic similarity, the number of observed alleles, the number of effective alleles, the genetic diversities of Nei, the percentages of the polymorphic loci, the genetic diversities when using the Shannon index and the coancestry coefficient. There was no correlation between the genetic distances and the geographical distances. Despite the low number of individuals, high genetic diversity was observed, a fact that contributes to the development of strategies for the conservation of the species.