Genetic Differentiation of Natural Mediterranean Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.) Populations in Greece

1994

42 Lit. Ang.

Unselbständiges Werk

13343

200062781

The Mediterranean cypress has a disjunct geographic distribution in Greece. It mainly consists of small natural stands on Crete and on other Aegean islands, but it also has been introduced, mostly as the pyramidalis form, in many other localities. The nature and magnitude of genetic variation of natural and introduced stands are studied in the present paper. Twenty five populations representing different population histories, geographic localities and ecological site conditions were sampled. Zymograms of adult trees were obtained by means of starch gel electophoresis of their seed peerisperms. Large intrapopulational and moderate interpopulational variation was found. The greatest differences were observed among populations with different establishment histories. Natural populations showed much more variation within stands than introduced and ornamental ones. This indicates that introduced stands were founded by a few individuals. On the other hand, natural stands, which are the remnants of extensive forests of the past, somehow managed to avoid the bottleneck effect and to maintain high levels of heterozygosity and allelic diversity.