N. S. Sannikova

The hypothesis of hydrochorous dissemination of populations of conifers

A comparative analysis of field observations and experiments on the distance and rate of dispersal of self-sown Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) progeny has shown that the rate of their hydrochorous dissemination downstream is an order of magnitude higher than the rate of dispersal in upland areas. A hypothesis assigning priority to the role of hydrochory in the expansion of conifer populations to the tundra (periglacial) zone along with climate warming has been formulated and substantiated by comparative isozyme analysis of populations in transects lying along and across rivers.

A system of Pleistocene refugia for Pinus sylvestris L. in the southern marginal part of the species range

An allozyme analysis of 67 Pinus sylvestris L. populations distributed over the entire species range has provided a basis for determining locations of 12 hypothetical Pleistocene refugia (HPRs) in its southern marginal part and estimating their relative contributions to the gene pools of seven phylogeographic population groups (PPGs) in the glaciated zone of the range. Using Nei’s (1978) minimum genetic distances (DN78 < 0.015) reflecting similarities and differences in allele frequencies between PPGs and the refugia, it has been shown that the main contributions to the P. sylvestris gene pool in Central Europe, Scandinavia, and the Russian Plain were probably made by the Balkan and Southern Ural refugia, and in Western and Central Siberia, by the Southern Ural, Turgai, and Southern Siberian mountain refugia.

Specific features of root system morphology and mycorrhiza formation in scots pine seedlings from burned-out areas

Morphological parameters of the root system (the length of conducting roots and the number of absorbing roots) and the rate of its mycorrhization have been studied in one-year Scots pine seedlings from burned-out areas of cowberry-herb-green moss pine forest in the northern forest-steppe subzone of Western Siberia. The results show that the length of conducting roots in such seedlings increases, whereas the rate and density of mycorrhiza formation in absorbing roots decrease, compared to those in plants from unburned areas. The structure of underground organs in pine seedlings depends not only on fire intensity but also on the type of substrate in the burned-out area.

Gradient Genogeographic Analysis of Pinus sylvestris L. Populations in Europe

Gradients of Neis genetic distances between 15 samples of Pinus sylvestris L. trees were analyzed along three submeridional transects, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean and Transcaucasia. As a result, distinct chorogenetic differentiation was revealed between the populations of this species growing in climatically specific regions of northern and southern Europe. Considerable Neis distances (DN = 0.045–0.056) and their gradients, combined with differences in stable phenotypic characters (the composition of monoterpenes and morphological parameters of cones) determined at the Pyrenean and Caucasian mountain borders, suggest that the P. sylvestris species structure includes two South Eurasian subspecies, the Pyrenean P. sylvestris L., ssp. iberica Svoboda and the Transcaucasian P. sylvestris L., ssp. hamata (Stev.) Fomin.

Competition factors of edificator tree stand: Quantitative analysis and synthesis

To analyze and quantitatively estimate the contribution of different factors of competition from the edificator tree stand to its effect on plants comprising the lower forest vegetation layer, a set of ecophysiologically based indices of root, light, and integrated competition has been proposed and tested. The results obtained in pine and spruce forests forests of Western Siberia and the Urals show that the growth of the conifer undergrowth is more closely correlated with the index of root competition, and that of heather (Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull.), with the index of light competition from the edificator tree stand. Moreover, the correlation of their growth with the integrated competition index is 15–25% stronger than the correlation with the indices of root and light competition, irrespective of forest type.

Reproductive isolation and disruptive selection as factors of genetic divergence between Pinus sylvestris L. populations

Generalizations are made on the basis of results obtained in the course of long-term, stationary quantitative studies on phenogenetic divergence of P. sylvestris populations growing in an upland bog and the adjacent dry land area in the pre-forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia. Contrasting differences between the two edaphoecotopes and almost complete phenological reproductive isolation of populations from year to year are demonstrated. It has been found that root morphogenesis in the F1 progeny of pine from the bog population grown under uniform ecological conditions in the dry land area is characterized by elimination of the vertical phenotype, with the alternative lateral phenotype type being dominant in 7- to 22-year seedlings. Significant allozyme differentiation and distinct chorological boundary between the dry-land and bog populations have been revealed. The hypothesis of their genetic divergence in the Holocene is proposed, with this phenomenon being explained by the cumulative effect of disruptive selection and strict reproductive isolation in two contrasting environments.

Insularization and polymorphism in marginal island populations of Pinus sylvestris L.

Comparative allozyme analysis of 26 marginal island populations of Pinus sylvestris L. and 20 populations from the center of the species range has confirmed, at the species level, the Wright-Dubinin “island model” of automatic genetic processes and Mayr’s hypothesis about homozygotization of small isolated populations at range boundaries. It has been shown that the polymorphism of isolated populations sharply decreases when their area is reduced below 15–20 km2 and increases to the level observed in the center of the range when the population area exceeds 50–100 km2. A chorogenetic classification of marginal P. sylvestris populations is proposed.

Microecosystem Analysis of the Structure and Functions of Forest Biogeocenoses

The “microecosystem” approach and an adequate system of quantitative methods have been used to study the relationship between the chorologic changes in the structure and functions of edificator tree stand and other components of the pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest cenoecosystems of the Transural and Northern Turgai regions. Significant correlations of the density of pine undergrowth with the litter thickness; of its growth with root competition, stand closeness, and, to a lower degree, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR); and of the numbers of small mammals and groups of soil mesofauna with herbaceous phytomass have been found. The possibility of the synthesis of population-ecological, synecological, and biogeocenological methods has been demonstrated.

Ecogeographical characteristics of the seed-bearing capacity and natural regeneration of pine on the fire-sites in pine forests of Transbaikalia

The paper presents the results of the studying of the parameters of post-fire structure and seed-bearing capacity of tree stands, factors of surface medium (thickness of burnt duff, projective cover of herb and moss vegetation) as well as number, vitality, and age structure of self-seeded Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and accompanying small-leaved species in the Lower Selenga pine forest massif of the forest-steppe in Southwestern Transbaikalia. The seed harvests were 1.5–2 times higher than in the geographically replacing forest types in the forest-steppe of West Siberia, and vitality of the undergrowth of the pine under the canopy of fire-affected stands was extremely low. It is shown that the pine reforests successfully on the fire-sites in the zone of insemination from the forest walls and on the thin fire-sites in the cowberry-rhododendron pine forests, where it is 2–3 times more abundant than in forest-steppe of the West Siberia. The reforestation is insufficient on the fire-sites in the bearberry-lichen pine forests.

Searching for and Revealing Pleistocene Refugia of Pinus sylvestris L. in Central Yakutia

As a result of allozyme analysis, Nei’s genetic distances were determined between the phylogeographic group of seven populations of Pinus sylvestris L. in the “glacial” zone of the range in Central Yakutia and 25 populations of its hypothetical Pleistocene refugia of the southern nonglacial zone within the entire range of the species in Northern Eurasia. The location of the most likely “avant-garde” refugium of the modern yakutian populations of the Scots pine is Northern Priamur’e (Tynda), as well as less likely Siberian (Romanovka, Irkutsk), South Ural (Kryktytau), and Central European (the Czech Republic) refugia.