| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
What's this? |
Genetics |
Centre for Forest Conservation Genetics, Department of Forest Sciences, University of British Columbia, 3401-2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4 Canada
ABSTRACT
Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) has greatly declined throughout its range as a result of introduced disease, fire suppression, and other factors, and climate change is predicted to accelerate this decline. Restoration is needed; however, no information regarding the degree of local adaptation is available to guide these efforts. A seedling common-garden experiment was employed to assess genetic diversity and geographic differentiation (QST) of whitebark pine for traits involved in growth and adaptation to cold and to determine climatic variables revealing local adaptation. Seedlings from 48 populations were grown for two years and measured for height increment, biomass, root to shoot ratio, date of needle flush, fall and spring cold injury, and survival. Significant variation was observed among populations for most traits. The QST was low (0.07–0.14) for growth traits and moderate (0.36–0.47) for cold adaptation related traits, but varied by region. Cold adaptation traits were strongly correlated with mean temperature of the coldest month of population origins, while growth traits were generally correlated with growing season length. We recommend that seed transfer for restoration favor seed movement from milder to colder climates to a maximum of 1.9°C in mean annual temperature in the northern portion of the species range, and 1.0°C in the U. S. Rocky Mountains to avoid maladaptation to current conditions yet facilitate adaptation to future climates.
Key Words: genetic variation • geographic differentiation • local adaptation • Pinus albicaulis • quantitative traits • seed transfer • whitebark pine • white pine blister rust
Received for publication 21 September 2006. Accepted for publication 8 November 2007.
FOOTNOTES
1 The authors thank the USDA Forest Service regions one, five, and six; the British Columbia Ministry of Forests; E. C. Manning and Tweedsmuir Provincial Parks of British Columbia; and B. Brett of Snowline Ecological Consulting, Whistler, B.C. for seed. Many people provided assistance to this project, including D. Kolotelo, J. Tuytel, C. Chourmouzis, D. Watson, K. Keir, M. Harrison, D. Szohner, P. Smets, J. Krakowski, S, Trehearne, and all of the members of the Aitken laboratory at UBC. Climate data were provided by Drs. T. Wang and G. Rehfeldt. Funding for this study came from the British Columbia Forestry Investment Account through the Forest Genetics Council of B.C. to the Centre for Forest Conservation Genetics at UBC. Thank you to Drs. A. Yanchuk, M. Whitlock, J. Whitton, Y. El-Kassaby, S. Graham, D. Tomback, B. St. Clair, and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.
2 Author for correspondence (e-mail: andrew.bower{at}comcast.net)
CiteULike Complore Connotea Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Reddit Technorati Twitter What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  N. E. Seavy, T. Gardali, G. H. Golet, F. T. Griggs, C. A. Howell, R. Kelsey, S. L. Small, J. H. Viers, and J. F. Weigand Why Climate Change Makes Riparian Restoration More Important than Ever: Recommendations for Practice and Research Ecological Rest., January 1, 2009; 27(3): 330 - 338. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
