Branislava Batos

Morphological variability of Quercus robur L. leaf in Serbia

Batos B., D. Miljković, M. Perović, S. Orlović (2017): Morphological variability of Quercus robur L. leaf in Serbia.Genetika Vol 49, No2, 529 541. This paper presents the results of a study dealing with leaf morphological variability of Quercus robur L. 148 trees were sampled from 5 population across Serbia and 17 morphological traits were assessed. Interpopulation variability was confirmed by the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA). A statistically significant (p <0.05) effect of population was obtained for most of the studied morphological characters. Intrapopulation variability was confirmed by statistically significant tree effects for all of the studied leaf characters (all p < 0.05). The results of the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) confirmed a significant population and tree share in the total phenotypic variability (all p <0.05). By applying the canonical discriminant analysis (CDA), the first discriminant function accounted for 63% of the variability between populations and the second accounted for 20% of the population variability. The leaf area (AREA), specific leaf area (SLA) and surface area to perimeter ratio (ARPE) had the greatest effect on population differentiation (CDA). It is assumed that different environmental conditions affect population differentiation and that high intrapopulation variability is due to intraspecific variability.

Population and individual variability of the leafing phenophase of pedunculate oak in three successive years.

The leafing phenophase of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) was analyzed at two locations in Belgrade (Ada Ciganlija - “AC”, Bojcinska suma - “BS”). The observations were made on 29 trees per site for three consecutive years (2004, 2005, 2006). In the “BS” site the phenophase of leafing starts and ends earlier than in the “AC” site. The largest number of trees in the “AC” site are classified in the late phenological group and in the “BS” site they belong to the “average” group. Population variability of the analyzed parameters of the phenophase of leafing was confirmed by the results of a Mann - Witney U - test for each year of observation, except for the end of the second year of observation and start of leafing in the first year of observation. According to the results of an F - test significant differences between sites were confirmed for all analyzed parameters except for the duration of leafing (2005) and the start of leafing (2006). Differences among the years of observation in the “AC” site were significant only in the end and in the “BS” site for they were significant for all three growth stages of scrolling. Despite the different environmental conditions in the three years of monitoring the stability of the phenology of analyzed populations was maintained (the percentage of trees that were always over the years of observation in the same phenological group relative to the start of leafing „AC” - 41.3%, „BS” - 55.2%), which is primarily the result of the genetic structure of populations and intraspecies variability. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 43007 III: Istraživanje klimatskih promena i njihovog uticaja na životnu sredinu - pracenje uticaja, adaptacija i ublažavanje]