Etude génétique de la distance de dispersion du tali (Erythrophleum suaveolens (Guill& Perr.) Brenan) en forêt dense humide tropicale

The study of the regeneration of tropical timber species is intended to design appropriate conservation strategies and to enable the sustainable exploitation of their populations. This study based on sample collection made in Cameroon and Gabon in two forest contexts with different population densities, has allowed us to characterize gene flow from tali (Erythrophleum suaveolens) using molecular markers. Direct methods based on analyzes of kinship and proceeding by maximum likelihood, as well as indirect methods based on the heterogeneity of the pollen pool and on the spatial structure of the population, allowed the reconstruction of the events of seed and pollen dispersal. The results show that the species present an exponential distribution of pollen and seeds, the average distance of pollen dispersal would be 240 meters and that of seeds would be 135 meters. We also defined a minimum effective density of 0.09 to 0.2 individuals per hectare depending on the forest context studied. The tali has a rate of inbreeding of 25% to 30 % coupled with strong inbreeding depression. These two features are most likely to affect the regeneration of the species in case of overexploitation.