Genetic variability of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) provenances in Spain: growth traits and survival

Abstract

Plants obtained from seed of 16 Spanish and 6 German provenances of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) were installed at fi ve trial sites distributed throughout the natural range of the species in Spain. Five years after planting (7 years of age) the experimental material was measured for total height, diameter, number of twigs at the fourth year whorl and survival. The analysis confi rmed that the rate of height growth of the Spanish is lower than that of the German provenances, whereas for the other traits the best Spanish compare favourably with the Germans. Provenance by site interaction was very signifi cant (P < 0.01) for most traits. Attempts to model the interaction of Spanish provenances on height by simultaneous introduction of some climatic and geographic covariates on both factors were not successful but a multiplicative model with one bilinear term was enough to provide a sensible explanation of this interaction. Usually, provenances closest to each trial site were found better adapted than more distant ones but some provenances of close origin presented a different behaviour. Processes of adaptation and selection of these ancient populations could be considered as the main factors to cause this interaction.

Morphological and physiological responses to drought stress of European provenances of Scots pine

“…The robustness of the provenance differences reported here to the effects of plant size confirms the existence of significant genetic variability for these characters in Scots pine (e.g. Alía et al 2001;Cregg and Zhang 2001, Oleksyn et al 1998, 2003. In Scots pine, seed mass varies systematically across latitude with significantly larger seeds in southern provenances (Reich et al 1994).…”

“…In contrast, very little is known on the existence of intra-specific differences in leaf physiology and growth regulation among Southern European Scots pine provenances whose health may be declining under periodically intense drought conditions. Studies of adaptive variation of populations growing at the southern boundary of the distribution of Scots pine are important because these populations could provide a source of genetic material for traits important for survival against the threats of heat and drought (Alía et al 2001;Hampe and Petit 2005;Taeger et al 2013). In one summary of data from five trials in Spain, height growth of Spanish populations was generally lower than that of German provenances, although the best Spanish provenances achieved similar rates to the German provenances (Alía et al 2001).…”

“…Studies of adaptive variation of populations growing at the southern boundary of the distribution of Scots pine are important because these populations could provide a source of genetic material for traits important for survival against the threats of heat and drought (Alía et al 2001;Hampe and Petit 2005;Taeger et al 2013). In one summary of data from five trials in Spain, height growth of Spanish populations was generally lower than that of German provenances, although the best Spanish provenances achieved similar rates to the German provenances (Alía et al 2001). While the information derived from field-based provenance trials is very useful, little can be gained on variability in provenance-specific responses to drought stress without specific experimental manipulations.…”

Estimating gametic introgression rates in a risk assessment context: a case study with Scots pine relicts

“…This area is closely surrounded by several thousand hectares of conspecific tree plantations not belonging to the nevadensis variety (Figure 1). Introgression from the plantations is a current matter of concern for the National Park managers and local foresters, because mtDNA (Sinclair et al, 1999), cpDNA (Provan et al, 1998) and quantitative growth and survival traits (Alía et al, 2001) have shown a substantial genetic divergence of P. sylvestris var. nevadensis relative to other Iberian and European populations of the species.…”

Las poblaciones ibéricas de pino albar ante el cambio climático: con la muerte en los talones

“…En zonas concretas, existe la posibilidad de favorecer la migración altitudinal (o latitudinal) de la especie hacia climas menos áridos mediante plantaciones. En ese caso es muy importante considerar la procedencia del material que se utilice en la plantación, asegurando, hasta donde sea posible, que corresponde a una población suficientemente adaptada a la sequía (Alía et al 2001;García-López et al 2010). …”