The extent and meaning of hybridization and introgression between Siberian spruce (Picea obovata) and Norway spruce (Picea abies): cryptic refugia as stepping stones to the west?

Abstract The paper investigates the biometric characteristics natural Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) regeneration in the Kaszuby Lake District, which is beyond the acknowledged Norway spruce range, with the natural regeneration in the Augustów Forest situated deep within the natural range, Warmia, at the edge of the natural range and in the West-Pomerania Lake District far beyond the natural range. For each region, four tree stands with similar light conditions on the forest floor were selected, including two cambisols and two brunic arenosols. All sites contained naturally regenerating spruces 16–17 years of age. The features of the forest stand and the biometric features of the saplings were determined for the selected stands on circular research plots. Altogether, the characteristicts of 400 saplings (100 in each region) were measured and analyzed using basic descriptive statistics. ANOVA with the Tukey’s multiple comparison test was performed to compare the features of forest stands and the natural regeneration of spruce in each region. The degree of interrelation between regeneration features was described by Pearson’s, ‘r’ factor or Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. A discriminatory analysis was carried out to determine the set of regeneration features differentiating regions from each other. The features of regeneration that differed between regions the most were: height of regeneration, basal diameter, mean height increment, and mean basal diameter increment of the saplings. The parameters for Warmia and the West-Pomerania Lake District were similar. The Augustów Forest showed the lowest values for the regeneration parameters, while the Kaszuby Lake District produced the highest values. The regeneration in the Kaszuby Lake District was markedly different from all other regions as indicated by more dynamic growth. Additionally, this population shows a great distinctness, indicating adaptation to local environmental conditions, which may be proof for the insular presence hypothesis of spruce in this region. Due to their good quality, spontaneously developing natural regenerations in the Kaszuby Lake District should be supported by appropriate cutting and silvicultural measures.

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Analysis of the polymorphism of microsatellite loci in Picea abies (L.) H. Karst. and Picea obovatа Ledeb populations

Известия СПбЛТА ◽

10.21266/2079-4304.2021.237.97-108 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

В.А. Волков ◽

Г.В. Калько

Keyword(s):

Molecular Markers ◽

Picea Abies ◽

Microsatellite Markers ◽

Microsatellite Loci ◽

Geographic Origin ◽

European Part ◽

Picea Obovata ◽

Siberian Spruce ◽

Planting Material ◽

European Part Of Russia

Процессы генезиса хвойных лесов интенсивно изучаются с использованием методов молекулярного маркирования. Микросателлитные локусы рассматриваются в качестве наиболее полиморфной и воспроизводимой системы кодоминантных молекулярных маркеров. В цели исследования входило установить возможность использования микросателлитных маркеров для определения видовых различий между елью европейской и сибирской (Picea abies и Picea obovatа), а также оценить степень генетической обособленности региональных популяций ели на территории Европейской части РФ. Исследование показало, что использование набора из двенадцати микросателлитных маркеров позволяет разделить выборку елей, собранных с европейской и азиатской частей страны, на два генетических кластера, соответствующих видам Picea abies и Picea obovatа. Проанализированные в исследовании микросателлитные локусы могут быть использованы для оценки генетического разнообразия и географического происхождения ели европейской и сибирской. The processes of genesis of coniferous forests are widely investigating using molecular markers. Many studies are based on the analysis of microsatellite loci, which are acknowledged as the most reproducible and polymorphic co-dominant molecular markers. This study is aimed to establish the possibility of using microsatellite markers to determine differentiation between Norway and Siberian spruce (Picea abies and Picea obovata). Another task of this research was to assess the degree of genetic isolation of regional spruce population in the territory of European part of the Russian Federation. This study shows that using a large number of microsatellite markers allows to divide the sample of spruce collected from European part of Russia and Siberia in two genetic clusters, corresponding to Picea abies and Picea obovata. The microsatellite loci analyzed in the study can be used to assess genetic diversity and geographic origin of spruce trees and determine the origin of wood and planting material of Norway and Siberian spruce.

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