The morphological traits of needles as markers of geographical differentiation in European Pinus sylvestris populations

To evaluate the geographic variability of Pinus sylvestris populations seven morphological traits of needles of pines from IUFRO 1982 provenance trial have been analyzed. The studied populations originated from northern (>55°N in Russia, Sweden and Latvia), central (55-47°N in Poland, Germany, Belgium, France, Slovakia) andsouthern (<47°N in Hungary, Bosnia, Montenegro andTurkey) European ranges of Scots pine. The analyzedprovenance trial experimental areas were locatedin Kórnik (western Poland) andin Supraśl (north-eastern Poland). The greatest variation was found in needle length and number of stomata rows on the flat and convex side of a needle, whereas number of stomata per 2mmof needle length on flat and convex side of a needle was stable, with minor interpopulational variation. Biometrical analyses revealed a significant population × location interaction anda geographical pattern in interpopulational differentiation in both experimental sites, with the northern andsouthern European Scots pine groups of provenancesdiffering significantly from the group of central origin. The results obtainedare compatible with previous results of studies on provenance variability of the Scots pine from IUFRO 1982. In the light of available data, the influence of the Balkan glacial refugia of Pinus sylvestris on a present genetic diversity of this species in Europe and the reconstruction of Scots pine migration routes after the last glacial period are discussed.