Genetic variability in Italian populations of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.): managerial and silvicultural aspects – Part I

Abstract

Eight populations of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) – seven from the Alps and one from the Apennines, representative of the Italian range of this species – have been subjected to isozyme analysis, by means of starch gel horizontal electrophoresis carried out on six enzyme systems (LAP, GOT, PGM, MDH, GDH, SKDH; 12 loci in total), in order to study their genetic structure. The values of genetic diversity parameters within populations are rather high, while the differentiation between populations is generally low, as observed in most conifers studied to date. Nevertheless, the relict population from the Emilian Apennine distinguishes for its sharp differentiation from the remaining ones, which are essentially similar between them; moreover it shows an intrapopulation genetic diversity which is just slightly lower than in the Alpine populations, despite its isolation. It is a small stand which bear witness to migrations occurred in the inter- and postglacial periods, together with the other native stands scattered in the Ligurian-Emilian Apennine.