Genetic differentiation in seed stands of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in part of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is one of the most important forest trees in Bosnia and Herzegovina in both economic and environmental terms. The total area of forest in which beech is present is approx. 1,652,400 ha. There is a proportionate need to plant new forests and produce genetically high quality seed and saplings. Biochemical analysis of the genetic structure of eight populations of beech using ten enzyme systems from 16 isoenzyme gene loci revealed significant differences between the populations analyzed. Variance levels were high in some gene loci, while in some populations monomorphism was recorded only for individual gene loci. The average number of alleles per locus ranged from 2.1875 to 2.5625, and the average number of genotypes per locus varied from 2.6875 to 3.2500. The multilocus genetic diversity at the population level ranged from 63.276 to 162.001, and the genofund diversity varied from 1.2708 to 1.3416.The average differentiation value obtained for all populations was fairly low (Dj=5.81), indicating a percentage of overall variance of about 94.194%.