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

doi:10.3832/ifor2446-010

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

Elena Ciocîrlan⁽¹⁾, Nicolae Sofletea⁽¹⁾, Fulvio Ducci⁽²⁾, Alexandru Lucian Curtu⁽¹⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 10, Issue 6, Pages 916-922 (2017)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2446-010
Published: Dec 10, 2017 - Copyright © 2017 SISEF

Research Articles

Collection/Special Issue: COST Action FP1202
Strengthening conservation: a key issue for adaptation of marginal/peripheral populations of forest trees to climate change in Europe (MaP-FGR)
Guest Editors: Fulvio Ducci, Kevin Donnelly

PDF Version

Full Text

Citation

Geo-mapping

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.

Keywords

Fagus sylvatica, Genetic Diversity, Peripheral Populations, Bottleneck Effect

Authors’ address

(1)

Department of Forest Sciences, Transilvania University of Brasov, Sirul Beethoven-1, 500123 Brasov (Romania)

(2)

CREA SEL, Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, Forestry Research Centre, I-52100 Arezzo (Italy)

Corresponding author

Alexandru Lucian Curtu
lucian.curtu@unitbv.ro

Citation

Ciocîrlan E, Sofletea N, Ducci F, Curtu AL (2017). Patterns of genetic diversity in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) at the eastern margins of its distribution range. iForest 10: 916-922. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2446-010

Academic Editor

Fulvio Ducci

Paper history

Received: Mar 29, 2017
Accepted: Aug 23, 2017

First online: Dec 10, 2017
Publication Date: Dec 31, 2017
Publication Time: 3.63 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Breakdown by View Type

(Waiting for server response...)

Article Usage

Total Article Views: 40447
(from publication date up to now)

Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 34078
Abstract Page Views: 2311
PDF Downloads: 3155
Citation/Reference Downloads: 22
XML Downloads: 881

Web Metrics
Days since publication: 2329
Overall contacts: 40447
Avg. contacts per week: 121.57

Article Citations

Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Feb 2023)

Total number of cites (since 2017): 9
Average cites per year: 1.29

(no Plumx Metrics available for this paper)

Publication Metrics

by Dimensions ^©

Articles citing this article

List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.

(1)

Asuka Y, Tani N, Tsumura Y, Tomaru N (2004)
Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for Fagus crenata Blume. Molecular Ecology Notes 4: 101-103.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(2)

Biris A-I (2014)
Fagetele primare din România, o contributie la Patrimoniul Mondial UNESCO [Romania’s primary beech forests, a contribution to UNESCO World Heritage]. Bucovina Forestiera 14: 77-85. [in Romanian]
Gscholar

(3)

Borovics A, Mátyás C (2013)
Decline of genetic diversity of sessile oak at the retracting (xeric) limits. Annals of Forest Science 70: 835-844.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(4)

Channell R, Lomolino MV (2000)
Dynamic biogeography and conservation of endangered species. Nature 403: 84-86.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(5)

Chhatre VE, Rajora OP (2014)
Genetic divergence and signatures of natural selection in marginal populations of a keystone, long-lived conifer, Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) from Northern Ontario. PLoS ONE 9 (5): e97291.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(6)

Chybicki IJ, Oleksa A, Kowalkowska K, Burczyk J (2012)
Genetic evidence of reproductive isolation in a remote enclave of Quercus pubescens in the presence of cross-fertile species. Plant Systematics and Evolution 298: 1045-1056.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(7)

Ciocîrlan E (2014)
Comparative morphological analyses in marginal beech populations. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov, Forestry, Wood Industry, Agricultural Food Engineering, Series II 7 (56): 7-12.
Gscholar

(8)

Comps B, Thiébaut B, Paule L, Merzeau D, Letouzey J (1990)
Allozymic variability in beechwoods (Fagus sylvatica L.) over central Europe: spatial differentiation among and within populations. Heredity 65: 407-417.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(9)

Cornuet JM, Luikart G (1996)
Description and power analysis of two tests for detecting recent population bottlenecks from allele frequency data. Genetics 144: 2001-2014.
Online | Gscholar

(10)

Diaconeasa B (1977)
Valoarea documentara fitoistorica a mlastinii de turba de la Mangalia-Herghelie (Jud. Constanta) [The phyto-historical documentary value of the peat bog from Mangalia-Herghelie (Constanta County)]. Contributii Botanice, Gradina Botanica “Alexandru Borza”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, pp. 41-53. [in Romanian]
Gscholar

(11)

Doyle JJ, Doyle JL (1990)
Isolation of plant DNA from fresh tissue. Focus 12: 13-15.
Gscholar

(12)

Dumitriu-Tataranu I, Ocskay S (1952)
Pozitia sistematica si origina fagilor dela Luncavita (Dobrogea de Nord) [The systematic position and origin of the beech trees from Luncavita (Northern Dobrogea)]. Revista Padurilor 1-2: 25-31. [in Romanian]
Gscholar

(13)

Durand J, Bodenes C, Chancerel E, Frigerio J-M, Vendramin GG, Sebastiani F, Buonamici A, Gailing O, Koelewijn H-P, Villani F, Mattioni C, Cherubini M, Goicoechea P, Herran A, Ikaran Z, Cabane C, Ueno S, Alberto F, Dumoulin P-Y, Guichoux E, Daruvar A, Kremer A, Plomion C (2010)
A fast and cost-effective approach to develop and map EST-SSR markers: oak as a case study. BMC Genomics 11 (1): 570.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(14)

Earl DA, Von Holdt BM (2012)
STRUCTURE HARVESTER: a website and program for visualizing STRUCTURE output and implementing the Evanno method. Conservation Genetics Resources 4: 359-361.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(15)

Eckert CG, Samis KE, Lougheed SC (2008)
Genetic variation across species’ geographical ranges: the central-marginal hypothesis and beyond. Molecular Ecology 17: 1170-1188.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(16)

Enculescu P (1923)
Zonele de vegetatie lemnoasa din România [The woody vegetation zones of Romania]. Editura Cartea Româneasca, Bucuresti, Romania, pp. 268. [in Romanian]
Gscholar

(17)

Evanno G, Regnaut S, Goudet J (2005)
Detecting the number of clusters of individuals using the software STRUCTURE: a simulation study. Molecular Ecology 14: 2611-2620.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(18)

Excoffier L, Laval G, Schneider S (2005)
Arlequin (version 3.0): an integrated software package for population genetics data analysis. Evolutionary Bioinformatics Online 1: 47-50.
Online | Gscholar

(19)

Fady B, Aravanopoulos FA, Alizoti P, Mátyás C, Von Wühlisch G, Westergren M, Belletti P, Cvjetkovic B, Ducci F, Huber G, Kelleher CT, Khaldi A, Kharrat MBD, Kraigher H, Kramer K, Mühlethaler U, Peric S, Perry A, Rousi M, Sbay H, Stojnic S, Tijardovic M, Tsvetkov I, Varela MC, Vendramin GG, Zlatanov T (2016)
Evolution-based approach needed for the conservation and silviculture of peripheral forest tree populations. Forest Ecology and Management 375: 66-75.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(20)

Floricica N (1973)
Prezenta fagului în padurile Ocolului Silvic Snagov [The presence of beech in forests of Snagov Forest District]. Revista Padurilor 88: 367-370. [in Romanian]
Gscholar

(21)

Forest Europe/UNECE/FAO (2011)
State of Europe’s Forests 2011. Status and Trends in Sustainable Forest Management in Europe. Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, FOREST EUROPE Liaison Unit, Oslo, Norway, pp. 344.
Gscholar

(22)

Gapare WJ, Aitken SN, Ritland CE (2005)
Genetic diversity of core and peripheral Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr) populations: implications for conservation of widespread species. Biological Conservation 123: 113-123.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(23)

Georgescu CC (1928)
Insulele de fag din Dobrogea [Beech islands of Dobrogea]. Revista Padurilor 4: 231-242. [in Romanian]
Gscholar

(24)

Goudet J (1995)
FSTAT (version 1.2): a computer program to calculate F-statistics. Journal of Heredity 86: 485-486.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(25)

Gömöry D, Paule L, Shvadchak IM, Popescu F, Sulkowska M, Hynek V, Longauer R (2003)
Spatial patterns of the genetic differentiation in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) at allozyme loci in the Carpathians and the adjacent regions. Silvae Genetica 52: 78-83.
Online | Gscholar

(26)

Hampe A, Petit RJ (2005)
Conserving biodiversity under climate change: the rear edge matters. Ecology Letters 8: 461-467.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(27)

Hatziskakis S, Papageorgiou AC, Gailing O, Finkeldey R (2009)
High chloroplast haplotype diversity in Greek populations of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). Plant Biology 11: 425-433.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(28)

Langella O (2000)
Populations 1.2.31: Population genetic software (individuals or populations distances, phylogenetic trees). Web site.
Online | Gscholar

(29)

Magri D, Vendramin GG, Comps B, Dupanloup I, Geburek T, Gomory D, Latalowa M, Litt T, Paule L, Roure JM, Tantau I, Van Der Knaap WO, Petit RJ, De Beaulieu JL (2006)
A new scenario for the Quaternary history of European beech populations: palaeobotanical evidence and genetic consequences. New Phytologist 171: 199-221.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(30)

Nei M (1987)
Molecular evolutionary genetics. Columbia University Press, New York, USA, pp. 512.
Gscholar

(31)

Oprea A, Sîrbu C, Goia I (2011)
The vegetation of the natural reserve Valea Fagilor-Luncavita (Tulcea County, Romania). Contributii Botanice, Gradina Botanica “Alexandru Borza”, Cluj-Napoca XLVI: 17-32.
Gscholar

(32)

Page RD (2001)
TreeView. Glasgow University, Glasgow, UK, Web site.
Online | Gscholar

(33)

Pandey M, Rajora OP (2012)
Higher fine-scale genetic structure in peripheral than in core populations of a long-lived and mixed-mating conifer - eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis L.). BMC Evolutionary Biology 12 (1): 48.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(34)

Papageorgiou AC, Vidalis A, Gailing O, Tsiripidis I, Hatziskakis S, Boutsios S, Galatsidas S, Finkeldey R (2008)
Genetic variation of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in Rodopi (NE Greece). European Journal of Forest Research 127: 81-88.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(35)

Pastorelli R, Smulders MJM, Westende Vant WPC, Vosman B, Giannini R, Vettori C, Vendramin GG (2003)
Characterization of microsatellite markers in Fagus sylvatica L. and Fagus orientalis Lipsky. Molecular Ecology Notes 3: 76-78.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(36)

Peakall R, Smouse PE (2006)
GENALEX 6: genetic analysis in Excel. Population genetic software for teaching and research. Molecular Ecology Notes 6: 288-295.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(37)

Peery MZ, Kirby R, Reid BN, Stoelting R, Doucet-Beer E, Robinson S, Vasquez-Carrillo C, Pauli JN, Palsboll PJ (2012)
Reliability of genetic bottleneck tests for detecting recent population declines. Molecular Ecology 21: 3403-3418.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(38)

Pritchard JK, Stephens M, Donnelly P (2000)
Inference of population structure using multilocus genotype data. Genetics 155: 945-959.
Online | Gscholar

(39)

Schneider S, Roessli D, Excoffier L (2000)
ARLEQUIN ver 2.000. A software for population genetics data analysis. Genetics and Biometry Laboratory, Dept. of Anthropology and Ecology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Gscholar

(40)

Stanescu V, Sofletea N, Popescu O (1997)
Flora forestiera lemnoasa a Romaniei [Woody forest flora of Romania]. Editura Ceres, Bucuresti, Romania, pp. 451. [in Romanian]
Gscholar

(41)

Van Oosterhout C, Hutchinson WF, Wills DPM, Shipley P (2004)
Micro-checker: software for identifying and correcting genotyping errors in microsatellite data. Molecular Ecology Notes 4: 535-538.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(42)

Vornam B, Decarli N, Gailing O (2004)
Spatial distribution of genetic variation in a natural beech stand (Fagus sylvatica L.) based on microsatellite markers. Conservation Genetics 5: 561-570.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(43)

Wójkiewicz B, Litkowiec M, Wachowiak W (2016)
Contrasting patterns of genetic variation in core and peripheral populations of highly outcrossing and wind pollinated forest tree species. AoB PLANTS 8: plw054.
CrossRef | Gscholar

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry

Contents

Search

Journal Info

Journal Subjects and Fields

For Authors

For Reviewers

For Readers

SISEF Publishing

Search iForest Contents