A system of Pleistocene refugia for Pinus sylvestris L. in the southern marginal part of the species range

Abstract

An allozyme analysis of 67 Pinus sylvestris L. populations distributed over the entire species range has provided a basis for determining locations of 12 hypothetical Pleistocene refugia (HPRs) in its southern marginal part and estimating their relative contributions to the gene pools of seven phylogeographic population groups (PPGs) in the glaciated zone of the range. Using Nei’s (1978) minimum genetic distances (DN78 < 0.015) reflecting similarities and differences in allele frequencies between PPGs and the refugia, it has been shown that the main contributions to the P. sylvestris gene pool in Central Europe, Scandinavia, and the Russian Plain were probably made by the Balkan and Southern Ural refugia, and in Western and Central Siberia, by the Southern Ural, Turgai, and Southern Siberian mountain refugia.