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Pedunculate oak is an economically and ecologically very valuable species at the European level and for Bosnia and Hercegovina, and research into variation of this species is very important. In 2007, pedunculate oak leaf material was collected in 27 populations in Bosnia and Herzegovina along with seeds, which were used to establish a provenance trial. In the trial, leaves were collected in 2021, and 14 morphological traits were measured in both types of material. Analysis of variance showed generally non-significant differences between generations, but significant variation among populations and population-by-generation interactions. However, the correlations between generations were non-significant for most traits, and neither were the correlations with climatic parameters. The results indicate both genetic and environmental effects on leaf morphology. The utility of leaf morphology for gene conservation is shortly discussed.

Norway spruce is expected to suffer from drought stress and other manifestations of climate change. This study relies on a manipulative experiment with drought-stressed and well-watered (control) seedlings, comprising five provenances of Norway spruce distributed along a steep elevational transect from 550 to 1,280 m a.s.l. within the natural range. Seedlings were subjected to measurement of physiological traits (content of phytohormones and monoterpenes, slow and fast chlorophyll a fluorescence kinetics, gas exchange, hyperspectral indices), and genotyping at 8 nuclear microsatellite loci. Comparison of the coefficient of differentiation at neutral loci (FST) vs. differentiation at phenotypic traits (PST) was used to identify traits underlying divergent selection. In total, 18 traits exhibited a significant PST – FST difference. However, the consistency in differentiation patterns between drought-stressed and control plants was limited, only three traits exhibited signals of selection under both treatments. This outcome indicates that the identified differentiation patterns can only be interpreted in the context of environmental setup of the experiment, and highlights the importance of common gardens in adaptation research, as they allow both elimination of environment-induced phenotypic variation and studying genotype-by-environment interaction in physiological responses to environmental stresses.

Changes of soil chemical and microbial characteristics in the forest floor and in the A-horizon caused by the application of wood ash (WA) on the soil surface were studied one year after the WA application. Soil sampling was performed at three plots in a 40-year-old Norway spruce stand in Central Slovakia – at the control plot (CP) and at the plots with WA application in the spring (P1) and the autumn (P2) 2010. Soil samples were taken from the litter (L), fermentation (F), humic (H) forest floor horizons and from the A-horizon (the depth of 0−10 cm). In soil samples chemical attributes (pH, C and N concentration, extractable C and base cations concentration) as well as microbial characteristics (microbial biomass C, basal respiration, catalase activity, richness and diversity of soil microbial functional groups) were analysed. WA application was reflected in the changes of chemical properties (soil reaction, C, N and Ca2+ concentration) only in the forest floor horizons but not in the A-horizon one year after the treatment. No significant differences between plots were found in microbial characteristics throughout the topsoil horizons. The most distinct differences in decreased C and N content compared to control plot were observed in the H-horizon. Soil acidity differed especially in the F-horizon, where the increase of pH-H2O from 4.76 to 6.85 at P1 was recorded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Forestry Journal (03231046) is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Forestry Journal (03231046) is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Twenty nine fir populations originating from the putative zones of interspecific hybridization in southern Balkans were studied using a mitochondrial nad5-4 gene marker. The populations were classified to three taxa based on their geographical distribution and an overall taxonomical assessment at the population level based on needle and twig morphology: Abies alba Mill., Abies cephalonica Loud. and Abies borisii regis Mattf. Three haplotypes were found: 230 bp in Calabrian A. alba populations, 150 bp in Bulgarian and Macedonian A. alba populations, and 341 bp in A. cephalonica populations. Populations from central and northern Greece, classified as A. borisii regis, shared the 150 bp and 341 bp haplotypes with their closest neighbours, whereby haplotype frequencies changed clinally along the latitudinal gradient. This geographical distribution of mtDNA haplotypes supports the hypothesis that A. borisii regis represents a relatively recent hybrid swarm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introgressive hybridization within hybrid swarm populations of Pinus sylvestris and P. mugo was analyzed in the localities Medzi Bormi and Sokolie, northern Slovakia, using species-specific trnV-trnH/Hinf I restriction profiles of chloroplast DNA of needles and zygotic embryos. The presence of trees with both P. sylvestris and P. mugo haplotypes indicates hybrid nature of the swarms. Molecular analysis revealed a relatively high rate of introgressive hybridization between putatively hybrid swarm individuals and the parental trees of the pure species P. sylvestris and P. mugo growing in the same localities. The proportion of hybrid seeds with P. sylvestris pollen donor averaged at 30.3%, whereas those with pollen donor of P. mugo at 19.8%. The results are discussed within context of the established crossability relationship between P. sylvestris and P. mugo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 2011, the length of primary branches was measured in individual seedlings of firs representing 15 crossing variants. Measured branches were divided into separate groups according to the number of secondary twigs. Our data indicate the possibility for differentiation between the hybrid combinations based on length of their primary branches. The interspecific combinations A. pinsapo × A. alba and A. alba × A. pinsapo were more similar to mother species in this trait rather than to paternal parent. A given combination of different age differed primarily by the number of primary branches with a higher number of secondary branches in older seedlings. Comparison involving both primary and secondary branches appears to be more efficient in discriminating between hybrid combinations than comparison primary based on secondary branches alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Folia Oecologica is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Folia Oecologica is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Patterns of recent migration and gene exchange between divergent lineages of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) were studied in the hybrid zone of genetic lineages associated with different glacial refugia in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Thirty-three silver fir populations from Ukraine, Romania and Slovakia were analyzed using nuclear microsatellites. Based on diploid genotypes, sampled individuals were assigned to either western or eastern lineage using Bayesian inference. A phylogenetic analysis demonstrated the existence of three genetic clusters in the studied area, more or less structured according to genetic lineage and geography. First-generation migrants were concentrated close to the boundary between genetic lineages, whereas F1 hybrids showed a more dispersed distribution. Potential ecological and evolutionary explanations for the observed patterns were shortly discussed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Folia Oecologica is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)