Annals of Botany 119: 1061–1072, 2017 doi:10.1093/aob/mcw286, available online at www.aob.oxfordjournals.org Increased fire frequency promotes stronger spatial genetic structure and natural selection at regional and local scales in Pinus halepensis Mill Katharina B. Budde1,2,*, Santiago C. Gonzalez-Mart ınez1,2, Miguel Navascue´s3, Concetta Burgarella4,†, Elena Mosca5, Zaida Lorenzo1, Mario Zabal-Aguirre1, Giovanni G. Vendramin6, Miguel Verdu7, Juli G. Pausas7 and Myriam Heuertz1,2,* 1INIA Forest Research Centre, Department of Forest Ecology and Genetics, Carretera A Coruna~ km 7Á5, 28040 Madrid, Spain, 2INRA, Universite´ de Bordeaux, UMR 1202 BIOGECO, 33610 Cestas, France, 3INRA, UMR1062 CBGP, 34988 Montferrier- sur-Lez, France, 4INRA, UMR 1334 AGAP, 34060 Montpellier, France, 5Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bolzano, piazza Universita 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy, 6National Research Council, Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy and 7Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificacion (CIDE-CSIC), 46113 Moncada (Valencia), Spain †Present address: IRD, UMR DIADE, BP 64501, Montpellier, France. *For correspondence. E-mail
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[email protected] Received: 21 October 2016 Returned for revision: 23 November 2016 Editorial decision: 13 December 2016 Published electronically: 4 February 2017 Background and Aims The recurrence of wildfires is predicted to increase due to global climate change, result- ing in severe impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Recurrent fires can drive plant adaptation and re- duce genetic diversity; however, the underlying population genetic processes have not been studied in detail. In this study, the neutral and adaptive evolutionary effects of contrasting fire regimes were examined in the keystone tree species Pinus halepensis Mill.