Genetic structures of Picea abies subsp. acuminata and subsp. europaea occurring in Byelorussian Polesye and the Ukrainian Carpathians
Genetic structures of Picea abies subsp. acuminata and subsp. europaea occurring in Byelorussian Polesye and the Ukrainian Carpathians were investigated by isozyme analysis. The study revealed statistically significant differences in frequencies for a number of alleles and several population and genetic parameter values between the P. abies subspecies. The level of genetic variation in subsp. acuminata growing in the Ukrainian Carpathians (H o = 0.130 and H e=0.152) was found to be lower than that in subsp. acuminata occurring in southwestern Belarus (H o = 0.173 and H e=0.169). The level of genetic variation in subsp. europaea from the Ukrainian Carpathians (H o = 0.176 and H e=0.170) was almost identical to that in subsp. europaea growing in southwestern Belarus (H o = 0.164 and H e=0.171). The intraspecific genetic variation parameter values exhibited by both P. abies subspecies from the Ukrainian Carpathians differed more substantially that those exhibited by the P. abies subspecies from Byelorussian Polesye. Cluster analysis demonstrated that the level of differentiation between the P. abies subspecies occurring in the same stand wherein intensive cross-pollination took place was comparable with that between geographically remote populations.