Biogeographic Variation of Foliar n‐Alkanes of Juniperus communis var. saxatilisPallas from the Balkans

Abstract

The composition of the epicuticular n-alkanes isolated from the leaves of ten populations of Juniperus communis L. var. saxatilis Pallas from central (continental) and western (coastal) areas of the Balkan Peninsula was characterized by GC-FID and GC/MS analyses. In the leaf waxes, 14 n-alkane homologues with chain-lengths ranging from C22 to C35 were identified. All samples were dominated by n-tritriacontane (C33 ), but differences in two other dominant n-alkanes allowed separating the coastal from the continental populations. Several statistical methods (ANOVA, principal component, discriminant, and cluster analyses as well as the Mantel test) were deployed to analyze the diversity and variability of the epicuticular-leaf-n-alkane patterns of the ten natural populations of J. communis var. saxatilis and their relation to different geographic and bioclimatic parameters. Cluster analysis showed a high correlation of the leaf-n-alkane patterns with the geographical distribution of the investigated samples, differentiating the coastal from the continental populations of this taxon. Several bioclimatic parameters related to aridity were highly correlated with this differentiation.

Geographically Related Variation in Epicuticular Wax Traits of Pinus nigra Populations from Southern Carpathians and Central Balkans – Taxonomic Considerations

“… and Rajčević et al . argued that aridity is more important in governing plant n ‐alkane distribution. This is in agreement with our data, which showed moderate correlations with most of the precipitation‐related bioclimatic parameters.…”

“…Furthermore, similar results were obtained in relation to the contents of the longer chain n ‐alkanes which were positively correlated with the temperature seasonality and higher mean temperatures of the coldest quarter and strongly negatively correlated with precipitation in epicuticular waxes of Juniperus communis var. saxatilis Pallas .…”

“…Among the compounds constituting the cuticular waxes, n ‐alkanes have been used extensively as chemotaxonomic markers in different plant families . Furthermore, many authors suggested n ‐alkanes as very informative markers in the studies of geographic variation and/or identification of infraspecific taxa of Pinus , Picea , and Juniperus species. In the case of P. nigra , variability and differentiation of native populations using n ‐alkane markers have already been studied, but in a relatively reduced part of its natural range .…”

Mediterranean Propolis from the Adriatic Sea Islands as a Source of Natural Antioxidants: Comprehensive Chemical Biodiversity Determined by GC-MS, FTIR-ATR, UHPLC-DAD-QqTOF-MS, DPPH and FRAP Assay

“…Heneicosane was found with very high percentages only in C. sempervirens [52]. In addition, all leaf-wax samples of J. communis showed predominance of n-alkane C 33 in the needle wax (30.0-61.4%), which appears to be a common feature for Juniperus species [53] (the range of n-alkanes reported by different authors varied from mid-length (C 23 ) to long-chain n-alkanes (C 25 -C 35 )).…”

Epicuticular wax lipid composition of endemic European Betula species in a simulated ontogenetic/diagenetic continuum and its application to chemotaxonomy and paleobotany

“…or Junipers sp. are also characterized by a dominance at nC31 to nC35, which is not prevalent in Betula species [45,91,92]. Other prominent species such as Pinus sp., which are probably the most widely spread conifer species in Europe, synthesize n-alkanes in the range from nC27 and nC31 [45,93].…”