engleski

Morphological variability of the leaves of European wild pear (Pyrus pyraster (L.) Burgsd.) populations from continental and Submediterranean parts of Croatia

European wild pear (Pyrus pyraster (L.) Burgsd.) is a rare, noble hardwood species belonging to the Rosaceae family, with high-quality wood and great importance for biodiversity and ecosystems. It is native in almost all of Europe, and along with P. caucasica Fed., is considered to be the ancestor of the cultivated European pear (P. communis L.). In this study, we evaluate the morphological variability of the wild pear in Croatia. The inter- and intrapopulation variability was determined on the basis of ten measured morphological characteristics of leaves, using descriptive and multivariate statistical methods. The conducted research included 12 populations from both continental and Mediterranean parts of Croatia, and each population was represented by ten trees. The differences between the trees within populations, as well as the differences between populations, were confirmed for all studied characteristics. Biogeographical structuring of populations with a high level of among-tree variation within the populations was identified. In general, populations from the Mediterranean and the continental regions differed in the majority of the studied characteristics, with the Mediterranean populations possessing generally smaller leaves. This study provided insights into the variability of the European wild pear populations in Croatia, which is an important part of the efforts towards producing guidelines for the breeding and conservation of genetic resources of this rare and endangered noble hardwood species.

biogeographical structure ; leaf morphology ; morphometric analysis ; population variability, wild pear

nije evidentirano