Multilocus, putative allozyme genotypes were mapped and sampled from two local populations of Quercus mongolica Fischer ex Turcz var. grosseserrata (Bl.) Rehder & Wilson (Fagaceae) (each area is 100 m × 100 m, one with Sasa cover (N = 62) versus a second without it (N = 384)) occurring in undisturbed forests near Nogodan, Mount Jiri in southern Korea. Ripley's L-statistics and spatial autocorrelation analysis (a coancestry coefficient, fij) were used to test the prediction that because of low seedling establishment in a population with dense Sasa cover, there would be no spatial aggregation or hyperdispersion of individual trees and little evidence of fine-scale genetic structure in the population. As predicted, the Sasa-covered population showed no evidence of significant aggregation of individuals (P < 0.01) up to an interplant distance of 50 m and a random distribution of putative genotypes in the population. By contrast, the L-statistics conducted in the Sasa-free population indicated significant aggregation of individuals at interplant distances extending from 4 to 50 m. Spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed small but significant (P < 0.01), positive, fine-scale genetic structure extending from 10 to 30 m. A very similar result was obtained from 100 replicates each consisting of 62 trees in the Sasa-free populations by applying rarefaction and bootstrapping. These findings support the hypothesis that ground vegetation such as Sasa spp. has an impact on fine-scale genetic structure. The weak spatial genetic structure found in the Sasa-free population may primarily be due to limited acorn dispersal coupled with overlapping seed shadows and (or) secondary acorn dispersal by rodents.Key words: allozymes, Fagaceae, ground cover, Quercus mongolica var. grosseserrata, Sasa spp., spatial genetic structure.
Spatial Autocorrelation Analysis Using MIG-seq Data Indirectly Estimated the Gamete and Larval Dispersal Range of the Blue Coral, Heliopora coerulea, Within Reefs
