Abstract
Abstract Proportional composition of foliar epicuticular wax alkanes was analyzed for 40 individuals from 4 natural populations of Araucaria araucana in the Andes and the coastal Nahuelbuta mountains of Chile, using gas–liquid chromatography. A total of 17 long-chain alkanes were detected and identified, ranging in carbon chain length from C 21 to C 37 . Major alkanes were the C 29 , C 31 and C 33 homologues. Multivariate analyses (principal components analysis, canonical discriminant analysis and a phenogram based on cluster analysis of Nei’s genetic distances) indicated a greater differentiation between west-side Andean populations than between Andean and the coastal Nahuelbuta population. The population differentiation was consistent with an hypothesis for genetic adaptation to more arid conditions by biosynthesis of a greater proportion of long-chain alkanes. Intrapopulation variation was relatively high, even in the isolated coastal population suggesting the viability of this species in the face of environmental change. No evidence was found to support racial differentiation within Araucaria araucana .
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