Table 5. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) among Corallium rubrum populations using microsatellites, mtMSH and MtC data sets.

		Microsatellites			mtMSH			MtC
Source of variation		d.f	Variance components	%	d.f	Variance components	%	d.f	Variance components	%
(A)	Sampling sites
	Among groups	2	0.132	4.34	2	0.014	23.65	2	0.594	56.78
	Among samples within groups	3	0.320	10.49**	3	0.000	−0.64**	3	−0.003	−0.30
	Within samples	264	2.597	85.17**	129	0.047	76.99**	129	0.455	43.52**
(B)	Areas
	Among groups	1	0.153	4.96	1	−0.001	−2.27	1	0.828	63.60
	Among samples within groups	4	0.342	11.05**	4	0.012	20.58*	4	0.019	1.44
	Within samples	264	2.597	83.99**	129	0.050	81.69**	129	0.455	34.96**

Red coral populations were grouped according to (A) their sampling site (three groups: Elba, Ischia and Praiano) and (B) the areas (two groups: NTS and STS). ^* P<0.05, ^** P<0.001.