The genetic variation in Crimean juniper populations from the Lakes District of Turkey

Abstract

In this study, morphological characteristics of cone, seed and 75 days seedlings of seven Crimean juniper (Juniperus excelsa Bieb. M.) populations from the Lakes District of Turkey were investigated in terms of the amount of genetic variation and heritability among individuals within and among populations. Genetic variation among individuals within populations was found to be higher than that among populations. It was detected that epycotyl length had the highest coefficient of genetic variation and also radicula length had the highest coefficient of phenotypic variation. On the contrary, the lowest coefficients of genetic and phenotypic variations were the number of seeds per cone. Individual heritability ranged from 0.03 (hypocotyl length) to a 10 (cone diameter), whereas family heritability varied from 0.67 (number of seeds per cone) to 0.99 (thousand seed weight). High family heritability showed that an important genetic gain could be provided in this species using selective improvement methods. Therefore, being quickly selected new seed stands and established seed orchards with species would be crucial to increase genetic quality and reduce seed periodicity.