Vincent Sonnenwyl, Benjamin Dauphin, Yann Fragnière, Benoît Clément, Sandra Grünig, Sabine Brodbeck, Christian Parisod, Gregor Kozlowski, Felix Gugerli
{"title":"Genetic underpinning of historical afforestation with allochthonous Pinus cembra in the northwestern Swiss Alps","authors":"Vincent Sonnenwyl, Benjamin Dauphin, Yann Fragnière, Benoît Clément, Sandra Grünig, Sabine Brodbeck, Christian Parisod, Gregor Kozlowski, Felix Gugerli","doi":"10.1007/s00035-023-00304-6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Throughout the last centuries, the structure and genetic composition of forests have been strongly affected by forest management. Over 30% of European forests are artificially regenerated, very often using translocated forest reproductive material, among these species the Swiss stone pine (<i>Pinus cembra</i> L.). In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the species was largely used for artificial afforestation in the northern Alps. However, only a few planted trees have survived. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate if the historical afforestation of <i>P. cembra</i> in the northwestern Swiss Alps relied on allochthonous material. We sampled 12 sites, genotyping 11 nuclear microsatellites, to infer the spatial genetic structure of regional populations, to test for genetic differences between natural and planted stands, and to infer potential source regions of planted stands using reference samples covering the entire Alps. Population genetic structure analysis allowed us to distinguish planted from natural stands and to determine that forest reproductive material used for plantations was not of regional origin. We found similar levels of genetic diversity between natural and planted stands. Assignment tests revealed that reproductive material for planting was translocated to the study area from two source regions, i.e., near the border of Switzerland and Austria, and further to the East, between Austria and Italy. Our study shows how genetic tools may inform about historical transfer of forest reproductive material, which still may affect the population genetic make-up of regional occurrences, e.g., because of reduced natural regeneration.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51238,"journal":{"name":"Alpine Botany","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00035-023-00304-6.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Alpine Botany","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00035-023-00304-6","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PLANT SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Throughout the last centuries, the structure and genetic composition of forests have been strongly affected by forest management. Over 30% of European forests are artificially regenerated, very often using translocated forest reproductive material, among these species the Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra L.). In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the species was largely used for artificial afforestation in the northern Alps. However, only a few planted trees have survived. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate if the historical afforestation of P. cembra in the northwestern Swiss Alps relied on allochthonous material. We sampled 12 sites, genotyping 11 nuclear microsatellites, to infer the spatial genetic structure of regional populations, to test for genetic differences between natural and planted stands, and to infer potential source regions of planted stands using reference samples covering the entire Alps. Population genetic structure analysis allowed us to distinguish planted from natural stands and to determine that forest reproductive material used for plantations was not of regional origin. We found similar levels of genetic diversity between natural and planted stands. Assignment tests revealed that reproductive material for planting was translocated to the study area from two source regions, i.e., near the border of Switzerland and Austria, and further to the East, between Austria and Italy. Our study shows how genetic tools may inform about historical transfer of forest reproductive material, which still may affect the population genetic make-up of regional occurrences, e.g., because of reduced natural regeneration.
期刊介绍:
Alpine Botany is an international journal providing a forum for plant science studies at high elevation with links to fungal and microbial ecology, including vegetation and flora of mountain regions worldwide.