Abstract
Liriodendron chinense plays a crucial role in improving the ecological environment and combating soil erosion in the rocky desertification area of Western Hunan, China. However, there is still a lack of systematic research on the genetic diversity of natural populations of the L. chinense in rocky desertification areas. This study employed 11 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to analyze genetic diversity and spatial genetic structure in a population of 318 L. chinense individuals. We conducted parentage analysis on individuals from a limited area of natural regeneration to quantify pollen and seed-mediated gene flow separately. Based on diameter classification, L. chinense individuals in the large diameter class can be considered as potential parents. The results show that there is moderate genetic diversity in the natural populations of the L. chinense. The spatial genetic patterns of the adult individuals indicate that significant gene flow occurs primarily at short to medium distances, with about 70% occurring within a range of less than 80 m. Among the 318 L. chinense individuals analyzed, 201 were predominantly assigned to the parental generation, with 41 showing closest genetic similarity to the maternal parent. These results indicate that the majority of pollen (63.2%) originated from within the sampling area, which suggests a substantial proportion of natural regeneration occurred within the 2.5 hm(2) stand. These findings further elucidate the natural regeneration process of L. chinense and provide a theoretical foundation for ecological restoration efforts in rocky desertification areas.