scholarly journals Genetic diversity of seeds from four German Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) seed orchards

Author(s):  
Birte Pakull ◽  
Pascal Eusemann ◽  
Janine Wojacki ◽  
Diana Ahnert ◽  
Heike Liesebach

AbstractIn Germany, Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Franco) is seen as a valuable species for future cultivation in times of climate change. Local seed production in seed stands and seed orchards may secure that local adaptation is transferred to the next generation, but small population sizes could lower genetic diversity and thus future adaptability. Here we analyse the transfer of genetic diversity from parent to offspring generation in four older German seed orchards. We detected low pollen contamination rates due to high levels of spatial isolation. Even with a relatively low number of 40 clones, seed orchard design with randomized and repeated planting of clones led to low selfing rates, and despite uneven parental contributions, the number of successful parents and the level of genetic intermixture were high enough to allow the transfer of an adequate part of the genetic diversity to the next generation. Larger numbers, however, might be needed to reliably conserve the entire genetic diversity over succeeding generations. Conclusions on the establishment of future seed orchards and regarding areas requiring further research are drawn at the end of the paper.

2005 ◽  
Vol 54 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 218-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. Hansen ◽  
H. Wellendorf ◽  
E. D. Kjær

Abstract An evaluation of a seedling seed orchard in Denmark of Coastal Douglas-fir showed variation between open pollinated families in their susceptibility to windthrow, height and diameter growth, stem straightness, number of forks at age 10 and bud burst at age 9. Individual narrow-sense heritability was 0.63 for bud burst, 0.40 for height and diameter, respectively, 0.48 for stem straightness, 0.20 for number of forks and 0.17 for windthrow susceptibility. Fast growing families were characterised by late bud burst, and poorer stem straightness. The approach of using seedling seed orchards in Denmark is discussed in relation to genetic gains, genetic diversity and risk of inbreeding. Predicted gains concerning a reduction of windthrow susceptibility were poor due to low genetic variability. In multi-trait selection scenarios aiming to improve growth, stem straightness and reducing windthrow susceptibility, the approach of using seedling seed orchards demonstrated that it might be possible to obtain gains in height above 5% combined with significant improvements of stem straightness while retaining an effective population size above 50.


2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-544
Author(s):  
Charalambos Neophytou ◽  
Marcela van Loo ◽  
Hubert Hasenauer

Abstract Since its first introduction in the 19th century, Douglas-fir has become the economically most important non-native forest tree species in Central European countries. Many of these planted forests are important seed sources and/or exhibit natural regeneration. Thus, it is important to assess (1) the genetic diversity of the mature stands and (2) if the genetic diversity can be passed on to the next generations. In order to address these issues, we genotyped mature Douglas-fir individuals and natural regeneration from >100 native and non-native populations using nuclear microsatellite markers. We compared the genetic diversity of native North American populations with mature Douglas-fir populations in Central Europe. The results show that genetic diversity did not differ significantly between European populations and the assigned native origin. Using a subset of 36 sites from Central Europe, we detected a significant reduction in the genetic diversity of adult versus naturally regenerated juvenile trees, indicating a bottleneck effect in the next generation of European Douglas-fir stands. The main reason may be that the mature European Douglas-fir stands are highly fragmented and thus the stand size is not adequate for transmitting the genetic diversity to the next generation. This should be taken into account for the commercial harvesting of seed stands. Seed orchards may offer a potential alternative in providing high quality and genetically diverse reproductive material.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dainis Ruņģis ◽  
Solveiga Luguza ◽  
Endijs Bāders ◽  
Vilnis Šķipars ◽  
Āris Jansons

Forest ecosystems in Europe are expected to experience changes in temperature and water regimes associated with increased risks of extreme environmental events and disasters. Genetic diversity and relatedness has been linked to resilience of forest stands and landscapes. Genetic diversity indicators were compared between a Norway spruce population naturally regenerated after extensive windthrow and Norway spruce progeny populations derived from two seed orchards. In addition, genetic diversity in an undisturbed stand in a long established national park and a spruce genetic resource stand were analyzed. Populations were genotyped at 11 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci. Average genetic diversity indicators were similar across populations. However, the total number of alleles, average number of alleles over all loci, effective number of alleles, average gene diversity, and average allelic richness were highest in the naturally regenerated population and lowest in one of the seed orchard progeny populations. The genetic diversity in progeny from seed orchards used for stand renewal is comparable to the genetic diversity in naturally regenerated stands. However, fluctuations in seed production between years can have a large impact on genetic diversity in seed orchard progeny. The use of improved Norway spruce germplasm deployed via clonal seed orchards for forest renewal can maintain similar levels of genetic diversity compared to naturally regenerated stands, while also increasing production and timber quality.


2005 ◽  
Vol 54 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 206-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. Huh ◽  
H. W. Huh

Abstract Genus Acanthopanax is a long-lived woody species that is primarily distributed throughout Asia. Many species of this genus are regarded as medically and ecologically important. We evaluated a representative sample of the nine taxa with allozymes to estimate genetic relationships within the genus. As some Korean populations were isolated and patchily distributed, they exhibited a low level of genetic diversity. The narrow geographic ranges, artificial distribution of habitats, and small population sizes are proposed as factors contributing to low genetic diversity. Acanthopanax seoulense was similar to A. sessiliflorus, while a cluster of the A. rufinerve population is distant from any other species. A. senticosus is closely related to A. seoulense and A. sessiliflorus, whereas other species (A. koreanum) are more distinct from the Korean populations. Korean species are clustered together and clearly differentiated from the Chinese and Russian Acanthopanax taxa, genus Acanthopanax


2019 ◽  
Vol 438 ◽  
pp. 18-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Wojacki ◽  
Pascal Eusemann ◽  
Diana Ahnert ◽  
Birte Pakull ◽  
Heike Liesebach

Botany ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremie B. Fant ◽  
Andrea Kramer ◽  
Eileen Sirkin ◽  
Kayri Havens

The aim of any reintroduction is to provide sufficient genetic variability to buffer against changing selection pressures and ensure long-term survival. To date, few empirical studies have compared levels of genetic diversity in reintroduced and native plant populations. Using microsatellite markers, we measured the genetic diversity within reintroduced and native populations of the threatened Cirsium pitcher (Eaton) Torrey and Gray. We found that the use of local mixed source was successful in establishing populations with significantly higher genetic diversity (P < 0.005) than the native populations (allelic richness is 3.39 in reintroduced and 1.84 in native populations). However, the reintroduced populations had significantly higher inbreeding coefficients (P < 0.002) (FIS is 0.405 and 0.213 in reintroduced and in native populations, respectively), despite having multiple genetic founders, population sizes equivalent to native populations and a positive growth rate. These results may be due to inbreeding or the Wahlund effect, driven by genetic substructuring. This suggests that the small population size of these reintroduced populations may lead to genetic issues in the future, given the low number of flowering individuals each year. This highlights the importance of considering not only the number of source individuals but the effective population size of the reintroduction.


1994 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Copes ◽  
Mike Bordelon

Abstract Two treatments involving tree spacings (12 and 24 ft) within rows spaced 24 ft apart and height control (topped or not topped at 20 ft) were evaluated in 17- and 22-yr-old coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) seed orchards. Treatment differences for cone production were not significant because of the large tree-to-tree variation in cone production and, at one orchard, the confounding of location with treatment. Cone production in 1990 averaged slightly more than 2 bushels per tree (range 0 to 11.7 bushels). Average production per 96 linear ft of orchard row was 14.8 bushels. West. J. Appl. For. 9(1):5-7.


2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 943-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J.W Godt ◽  
J L Hamrick ◽  
M A Edwards-Burke ◽  
J H Williams

Genetic diversity within a white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seed orchard (consisting of 40 clones) and a jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) seed orchard (31 clones) was assessed and compared with genetic diversity in natural populations within the source area for the orchards. Genetic diversity was determined at 18 allozyme loci for seven white spruce populations and 27 loci for five jack pine populations, and the two orchards. Gene diversity maintained within the seed orchards (He = 0.157 for white spruce and 0.114 for jack pine) was similar to that found within the source area for each species (He = 0.164 and 0.114 for white spruce and jack pine, respectively). However, nine white spruce alleles and 12 jack pine alleles identified in the source area were not present in the seed orchards. These alleles occurred at low frequencies in the natural populations (mean frequency = 0.023 and 0.014 for white spruce and jack pine, respectively). Mean genetic identities between the seed orchards and their natural populations were high (>0.99), indicating that common allele occurrences and frequencies were similar between the orchards and their source area. One allele in the white spruce orchard and two in the jack pine seed orchard did not occur within the natural population samples. Simulations indicated that randomly reducing the number of clones within the seed orchards would decrease allelic richness slightly but would have little effect on overall gene diversity.


1988 ◽  
Vol 120 (11) ◽  
pp. 1033-1034
Author(s):  
Nancy G. Rappaport

Larvae of Lacinipolia patalis (Grote) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were discovered in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) cones collected from the Louisiana-Pacific Corporation's Little River Seed Orchard near Trinidad Head in Humboldt County, CA (elevation 91 m) during the fall of 1985. Previous surveys have not reported this noctuid from Douglas-fir cones (Keen 1958; Tietz 1972; Furniss and Carolin 1977; Hedlin et al. 1980; Ruth 1980; Schowalter et al. 1985). Its usual hosts are blackberry and loganberry (Rubus spp.) and roses (Rosa spp.); it normally feeds on foliage and, to some extent, dead fruit bases and dead leaves (Crumb 1956). The shift from angiosperm leaves and fruit to gymnosperm cones is somewhat surprising. Blackberries, however, grow around the perimeter of the seed orchard and along the rows between trees, and so provide an abundance of the usual host for L. patalis nearby.


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