One of the key issues facing evolutionary biology, and indeed any scientific endeavour, is the effectiveness of knowledge transfer from basic science to application. Bittencourt and Sebbenn (2007) present a study that addresses the basic biology of the genetic structure of tree populations and gene flow between them in a manner that will also inform conservation biology and those concerned with genetic management and conservation in a fragmented landscape. One of the more useful findings presented by Bittencourt and Sebbenn, that seed distribution is more limited than pollen distribution as a means of gene dispersal within and between populations, seems intuitively obvious. However, the implications regarding genetic isolation of forest fragments are not as obvious. Fragmentation of forested landscapes is widespread, and has existed in some areas, such as North America and Europe, for decades or even centuries. In other parts of the world, including Brazil, the locale for their study, such forest fragmentation is taking place now and at a rapid pace. The short-term implications of ongoing forest fragmentation for biodiversity loss are immediately apparent; what is less apparent is the ability of such fragmented forests to recover when landscape management priorities change.
