A total of 444 oak trees from 110 populations from a previously under-sampled area in the central Balkans were analysed using four primer/enzyme combinations which amplified and restricted four, largely non-coding regions of the maternally inherited chloroplast DNA. Using the nomenclature of to classify the haplotypes and lineages, the seven haplotypes that were found in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia and southern Kosovo consisted of haplotypes 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 17, 31, as well as the subtypes of haplotypes 4 (a), 5 (a, b, c), and 17 (a). Five of these haplotypes belong to lineage A. One of these, haplotype 5, is present throughout the sampled area. The distributions of the other haplotypes from this lineage are more geographically structured. The other two haplotypes, haplotype 2 and haplotype 17, belong to lineages C and E, respectively. The data are combined with previous data by PETIT et al. (2002 b) to provide more detailed information of the postglacial routes of colonisation taken by oaks in south-eastern Europe.

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In the area of the western Balkans, xerothermal broad-leaf forests hold a very special position, the main species being pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.). The study comprises 36 populations of pubescent oak from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia. Genetic variability and population diversity was analysed on chloroplast DNA in order to determine to which haplotype an individual or studied population belongs, as well as how they are related. For the detection of one haplotype analysed four sequences (AS, TF, DT and CD) on the chloroplasts DNA. The results of the analysis suggest that there are six different haplotypes of pubescent oak (2, 4, 5, 17, 31, 33) in the studied populations. Two more sub-haplotypes were found in haplotype 5 (a and b), but only in populations occurring in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results suggest the great variability of pubescent oak in the researched area, which is generally characteristic of other species from the area of the Balkan Peninsula. The results obtained by means of cpDNA analysis can help in the formation of seed zones. However, due to the strong selection pressure of unplanned logging, and the possible introduction of herbal material of unknown origin, it is necessary to find a sufficient number of autochthonous entities (i.e., populations of the researched species) as well as new suitable markers for their characterization. The results of this paper constitute a scientifically recognised, partial examination of the origin of the starting forest reproductive material from the broader geographic area, thus serving future projects on its regeneration

Survival analysis is class of statistical methods for studying the occurrence and timing of many different kinds of events. In this research we applied survival analysis for comparing and estimating flushing times of sixteen provenances of Penduculate Oak (Quercus Robur L.). Flushing time is very important feature of the physiological character and it is known that later flushing Oak has some good properties that are preserved even when it is grown on non-native sites. The survival analysis showed significant difference in flushing time of sixteen provenances and based on these results some later flushing Oak provenances were determined.

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