<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the genetic variability and heritability of some morphological and physiological traits in <italic>Fagus orientalis</italic> Lipsky along an elevation gradient in northern forests of Iran. Beech leaves were sampled from southern and northern crown parts of healthy mature trees along an elevation gradient comprising sites situated at 700 m, 1,200 m and 1,700 m above the sea level. Our statistical analysis showed that the investigated traits differed significantly between the populations. The results indicated the lowest and the highest coefficients of variation for the high (1,700 m) and middle elevation populations (1,200 m) for leaf length, petiole length, leaf area, specific leaf area, dry weight, specific dry weight, leaf index and petiole index traits. With increasing elevation, mean leaf width, distance from leaf base to the leaf maximum width, dry weight and petiole index increased. The plasticity of leaf length, specific leaf area, specific dry weight, petiole index and petiole length peaked at middle elevation, and with increasing elevation, the plasticity of these traits declined. The distance from leaf base to the leaf maximum width had the highest coefficient of genetic (75.5%) and phenotypic (75.5%) variation. The heritability results showed that there were differences in all traits, and that the highest heritability was recorded for the distance from the leaf base to the leaf maximum width (99.95 %). The results suggest that the studied beech populations responded to the environmental changes by changing their leaf traits in different ways at different altitudes.</p></abstract>

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the genetic variability and heritability of some morphological and physiological traits in Fagus orientalis Lipsky along an elevation gradient in northern forests of Iran. Beech leaves were sampled from southern and northern crown parts of healthy mature trees along an elevation gradient comprising sites situated at 700 m, 1,200 m and 1,700 m above the sea level. Our statistical analysis showed that the investigated traits differed significantly between the populations. The results indicated the lowest and the highest coefficients of variation for the high (1,700 m) and middle elevation populations (1,200 m) for leaf length, petiole length, leaf area, specific leaf area, dry weight, specific dry weight, leaf index and petiole index traits. With increasing elevation, mean leaf width, distance from leaf base to the leaf maximum width, dry weight and petiole index increased. The plasticity of leaf length, specific leaf area, specific dry weight, petiole index and petiole length peaked at middle elevation, and with increasing elevation, the plasticity of these traits declined. The distance from leaf base to the leaf maximum width had the highest coefficient of genetic (75.5%) and phenotypic (75.5%) variation. The heritability results showed that there were differences in all traits, and that the highest heritability was recorded for the distance from the leaf base to the leaf maximum width (99.95 %). The results suggest that the studied beech populations responded to the environmental changes by changing their leaf traits in different ways at different altitudes.

Genetic variability and heritability of some morphological and physiological traits in <italic>Fagus orientalis</italic> Lipsky along an elevation gradient in Hyrcanian forests

Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources

Department of Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences

Folia Oecologica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Genetic variability and heritability of some morphological and physiological traits in  Lipsky along an elevation gradient in Hyrcanian forests

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the genetic variability and heritability of some morphological and physiological traits in Fagus orientalis...

Genetic variability and heritability of some morphological and physiological traits in Fagus orientalis Lipsky along an elevation gradient in Hyrcanian forests

Published Online: May 27, 2019

Page range: 45 - 53

Received: Oct 10, 2018

Accepted: Mar 19, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2019-0007

Keywords
correlation, elevation change, heritability, leaf trait, plasticity

© 2019 Mahboobeh Mohebi Bijarpasi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Genetic variability and heritability of some morphological and physiological traits in Fagus orientalis Lipsky along an elevation gradient in Hyrcanian forests

Published Online: May 27, 2019

Page range: 45 - 53

Received: Oct 10, 2018

Accepted: Mar 19, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2019-0007

Keywordscorrelation, elevation change, heritability, leaf trait, plasticity

© 2019 Mahboobeh Mohebi Bijarpasi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
correlation, elevation change, heritability, leaf trait, plasticity