Variability of needle characters of Pinus mugo Turra populations in the Karkonosze Mountains in Poland

Abstract

The basic aim of the work was to widen the knowledge about variation of Pinus mugo in the Karkonosze (Giant) Mountains and verification of provenance of several, probably planted populations on that basis. Seven populations were sampled, four on hardly accessible precipices of glacial cirques as natural, and three on the topical, mostly plane or only slightly in clined parts of the mountains as potentially alien ones. The variation of the needles was biometrically analyzed in respect of 23 morphological and anatomical characters. Measurement data were subject of multivariate statistical analyses. Results call attention on rather continuous variability of P. mugo in the Karkonosze Mts. The differences among samples were found as relatively low and no direct connections have been detected between variation and provenance from precipices versus plane sites