Acrocomia aculeata is a native palm distributed widely throughout Brazil that is used in a diverse array of products from the food industry to biodiesel oil production. This study uses nine microsatellite loci to assess the genetic diversity, spatial genetic structure (SGS), and mating system of A. aculeata. A total of 200 samples were collected from four populations (Fusquinha-FU, Padre Josimo-PJ, Gleba XV-GB, and Amparo-AM), in São Paulo State, Brazil. We also collected fruits from 20 randomly selected seed trees in the FU population to assess mating patterns, for a total of 246 genotyped embryos. We identified a total of 103 alleles and all loci were polymorphic. The average observed heterozygosity ( H o ) ranged from 0.410 (AM) to 0.531 (FU) and expected heterozygosity ( H e ) ranged from 0.547 (PJ) to 0.615 (GB). The average fixation index ( F ) ranged from 0.043 to 0.254 for FU and AM populations, respectively. The coancestry coefficient ( xy ) was significant up to 38 m in PJ the population and 71 m in AM. Individual palm outcrossing rates were predominantly high ( t m = 0.985) and the paternity correlation ( r p (m) = 0.02) was significantly low, indicating a high probability of the occurrence of half-sibs.Compared to other palm species, the studied populations show high levels of genetic diversity. Our results confirm that A. aculeata is primarily allogamous, with no significant paternity correlation, and seeds should be harvested from at least 40 trees to ensure high levels of genetic diversity in seed collection programs.

In this work, the prediction of the distribution of M. urundeuva Fr. All. was performed based on the region of natural occurrence of the species. Its geographic coordinates were obtained from online databases CRIA and SpecialLinks, from scientific articles and fieldwork carried out by Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) in Ilha Solteira, São Paulo, Brazil. M. urundeuva is a native tree species with great potential for commercial use in Brazil. For this purpose, ecological niche modeling was used, with current layers of climate variables and layers prepared for future climate scenarios, according to the 4th Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (AR4/IPCC), using Worldclim data on Brazil. With the Open Modeller and ArcGIS programs, maps were generated to predict its occurrence for the current period and future climate scenarios, made according to the projections of global climate changes. With the projection of increases in temperature and precipitation in the area where the species occurs, it tends to migrate to areas of Brazil where the climate is currently milder, in the south and southeast regions. Due to climatic changes, the species tends to undergo changes in distribution and area size until 2080. It was projected for Caatinga and Pantanal, in both periods, an increase in area, while for the Cerrado, in the first period, the area increased, and, for the second, it decreased. Therefore, according to the results of the maps of future projections for the next decades, it is concluded that there will be changes in the distribution of M. urundeuva, with a significant reduction of the potential area of occurrence in the region.

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