Patterns of genetic diversity in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) at the eastern margins of its distribution range

Abstract

Populations located at the periphery of the species' distribution range may play an important role in the context of climate change. These peripheral populations may contain specific adaptations as a result of extreme environmental conditions. The aim of this paper was to assess within population genetic diversity and among population differentiation in one of the most important forest tree species in Europe, European beech (Fagus sylvatica), at the eastern margins of its natural range. We analysed four peripheral, isolated populations and five core populations from the continuous natural range along the Carpathian Mountains using a set of microsatellite markers. Higher levels of genetic diversity as measured by allelic richness (7.34 vs. 6.50) and observed heterozygosity (0.71 vs. 0.59) were detected in core populations than in peripheral ones. Population differentiation was slightly higher among peripheral populations than among core, Carpathian populations. There was strong evidence of bottleneck effects in two out of the four peripheral, isolated populations. Both core, Carpathian populations and peripheral, lowlands populations share the same chloroplast haplotype suggesting a common geographical origin from the putative Moravian refuge area. Past long distance founding events with material from the Carpathian mountain chain might explain the occurrence of small, isolated beech populations towards the steppe in the south-east of Romania. Our genetic data may contribute to a better understanding of the evolutionary history of the remnants of beech scattered occurrences at the eastern margins of species' distribution range.

Biochemical Basis of Altitude Adaptation and Antioxidant System Activity during Autumn Leaf Senescence in Beech Populations

“…The common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is a deciduous tree that plays an important role in the forests of Central and Western Europe. This species is sensitive to climatic factor variations such as drought, late spring and early autumn frosts and warming, and it is characterized by a great diversity of morphological [1,2], physiological [3][4][5][6] and genetic traits [7][8][9][10]. Due to the variability of these traits, beech populations from diverse climatic and altitude origins show different progressions of life processes, such as bud flushing, cambium activity, leaf senescence, various resistance to abiotic stress factors and high adaptability to different environmental conditions [11][12][13].…”

Genetic diversity and structure of Silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) at the south-eastern limit of its distribution range

“…The distribution of genetic variability for marginal populations was described for some species such as Scots pine (Savolainen 1996) and European beech (Ciocîrlan et al 2017), while for Silver fi r, recent studies indicate its higher adaptive capacity to mitigate climate change eff ects, in comparison to other coniferous species (e.g. Norway spruce, Scots pine) (Tinner et al 2013, Rousch et al 2016), but also the possibility of a severe growth decline in warm and dry regions of Europe (Bosela et al 2018).…”

Genetic diversity in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) seed stands in the Romanian Carpathians

“…This general genetic pattern was similar for European beech in almost all European regions as demonstrated mainly by isozyme studies (see Comps et al 1990, Gömöry et al 1992, Hazler et al 1997, Konnert 1995, Leonardi & Menozzi 1995, Merzeau et al 1994. For nSSR markers only few studies on genetic variability of beech populations exist (see Vornam et al 2004, Buiteveld et al 2007, Ciocîrlan 2014, Ciocîrlan et al 2017, Lander et al 2011, Liesebach et al 2015, Kempf & Konnert 2016. Szasz-Len (2016) conducted a PCoA and STRUCTURE analysis with the presented 10 populations from Romania and 16 European beech populations from Germany and Bulgaria.…”

“…Beside this, for selected Romanian beech provenances in nursery or field tests, the genetic structure was determined by isozyme analysis (Kim 1985, Konnert & Ruetz 2001, PCR-RFLP technique and chloroplast microsatellites (Popescu & Postolache 2009) or nuclear microsatellites (Liesebach 2012, Liesebach et al 2015. Nuclear microsatellites were also used to study the genetic variation of beech in specific Carpathian regions and in regions from Romania defined as marginal for beech distribution (Ciocîrlan 2014, Ciocîrlan et al 2017). Genetic studies in stands distributed over the whole continuous distribution zone of beech in the Romanian Carpathians are still missing.…”