Pollen Variability of Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaerth. (Betulaceae) from Southern Range Edge Populations in Northern Morocco
-
Published:2023-08-23
Issue:3
Volume:14
Page:797-810
-
ISSN:2037-0164
-
Container-title:International Journal of Plant Biology
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:IJPB
Author:
Sahli Abdelouahab1, Kassout Jalal2, Boselli Vladimiro Andrea3ORCID, Ennouni Hassan1, Chakkour Soufian1, Kadaoui Khalil1ORCID, Houssni Mhammad1ORCID, Ater Mohammed1
Affiliation:
1. Bio-Agrodiversity Team, Applied Botanic Laboratory, Sciences Faculty, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, BP 2062, P.O. Box 2121, Tétouan 93030, Morocco 2. Regional Agricultural Research Center of Marrakech, National Institute of Agricultural Research, Avenue Ennasr, P.O. Box 415, Rabat 10090, Morocco 3. Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
Abstract
Moroccan populations of Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaerth. (Betulaceae) are found at the southern limit of the species’ range and are represented by tetraploid cytotypes with no available pollen data. The objective of this study was to assess the morphological and morphometric variability of the pollen, specifically focusing on pollen diameters and the number of apertures. To achieve this, we sampled 11 populations that are representative of the Moroccan distribution area of this species. We employed a hierarchical sampling design (11 populations, 10 trees per population, and from 30 to 300 pollen grains per tree, depending on the character measured) to examine different levels of variability: interpopulation, intrapopulation, and intraindividual. The results demonstrate that there is no discernible difference in the morphology or size of the pollen among the Moroccan tetraploid populations. However, we observed a high degree of intraspecific variability in pollen morphometric traits, but most of this variability is associated with the intraindividual level.
Reference55 articles.
1. Alnus glutinsa (L.) Graertn. Biological Flora of the British Isles;Mcvean;J. Ecol.,1953 2. Tutin, T.G., Burges, N.A., Chater, A.O., Edmonson, J.R., Heywood, V.H., Moore, D.M., Valentine, D.H., Walters, S.M., and Webb, D.A. (1993). Flora Europaea, Cambridge University Press. [2nd ed.]. 3. A Review of the Characteristics of Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.) and Their Implications for Silvicultural Practices;Claessens;Forestry,2010 4. High Genetic Diversity and Distinctiveness of Rear-Edge Climate Relicts Maintained by Ancient Tetraploidisation for Alnus glutinosa;Lepais;PLoS ONE,2013 5. San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., de Rigo, D., Caudullo, G., Houston Durrant, T., and Mauri, A. (2016). European Atlas of Forest Tree Species, Publications Office of the European Union.
|
|