Genetic Variability of Seed Characteristics of Abies Populations from Turkey

Abstract

Fir (Abies) species occupies 626.647 ha of forestland which constitutes 3 % of total forest areas in Turkey. There are five native taxa belonging to this genus growing in pure and mixed stands in the country. Three of these taxa(Abies nordmanniana subsp. bornmulleriana, Abies nordmanniana subsp. equi-trojani, Abies cilicica subsp. isaurica) are endemic and considered as low risk (LR) species. Four different morphological characters of seeds were studied from 9 origins (Pozanti-Ulukisla, Bolu-Kokez, Akyazi-Dokurcun, Kizilcahamam-Guvem, Torul-Orumcek, Şavsat-Velikoy, Şavsat-Yayla, Edremit- Gurgendag, Can-Can) belonging to 4 taxa. 20 individuals were sampled from each individual for each population, and measurements were done for 20 seeds/individual. Seed characteristics of A. cilicica were significantly different than other three taxa. Weight of 1000 seeds was the heaviest in A. cilicica (143,70 gr) and the lightest in A. nordmanniana (6,6 gr). Average seed width, length and diameter of all populations were calculated as 6,54 cm, 11.97 cm and 3,34 cm, respectively. Seed weight were significantly correlated (P<0,01) with seed diameter and seed length. The dendrogram constructed by cluster analysis of populations were based on Squared Euclidean Distance and Nearest Neighbor Method. The dendrogram was divided into two main clusters. The first cluster contained only A. cilicica population and the second cluster contained other populations grouped according to taxa.