Морфологическое разнообразие лиственницы Каяндера (Larix сajanderi Mayr) по форме семенных чешуй шишек в пенжинской популяции (Северная Корякия)

Abstract

The diversity in the shape of cone scales of Larix cajanderi Mayr in the Penzhina population (North of Koryakia) was estimated using geometric morphometry methods. The study aimed in comparing the Penzhina population with other larch populations in Northeast Asia by the shape of cone scales and in identifying its geographical connections. A sample of 360 cones, collected from 36 larch trees in the middle reaches of the Penzhina River, was analyzed. Scales taken from the middle part of the cones were scanned, and outline points were placed with the screen digitizer using angular algorithm. Fourteen morphotypes of cone scales were distinguished by pairwise comparison of samples from each tree using Bootstrap resampling-based Goodall\'s F-test. These morphotypes were compared with those previously determined in the larch populations from Yakutia, Magadan Oblast, and the Kamchatka Peninsula. The morphotypes composition and frequency were used to determine phenotypic distances between populations. Cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling of the phenotypic distances were applied for ordination of the larch populations. All Penzhina morphotypes corresponded to the morphotypes of cone scales previously identified in the Yakutia and Magadan Cajander larch populations; two morphotypes were found earlier in the Kamchatka populations. By the shape of cone scales, the larch of the Penzhina population is close to the Yakutia populations of L. cajanderi. One can assume that the formation of larch forests in the Penzhina River valley mainly occurred due to the settlement of the larch from the Yakutia Pleistocene refugia. The Kamchatka cone scale morphotypes identical to those found in the Penzhina and Kolyma larch populations may indicate the migration of larch from the continent to the peninsula.