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Betula pendula subsp. fontqueri, present in the south of Spain, has been considered in danger of extinction and, for this reason, some regional governments in Spain have included their populations in conservation programmes. In order to establish the genetic structure of the Betula pendula subsp. fontqueri populations, a random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was carried out. Two B. pubescens populations were included in the study as taxonomic controls. B. pendula subsp. fontqueri populations were clearly differentiated through UPGMA, and showed significant pairwise genetic distance (ΦST) values between all pairs of populations obtained by AMOVA. Genetic diversity found between populations was not correlated to geographical distances. The significant differences among populations must be due to progressive isolation of Betula populations along their paleogeographical history, and more recently to the drastic fragmentation and reduction of some of these populations. The results obtained in this work show clear genetic differences which could be considered in the management of conservation strategies for Betula pendula subsp. fontqueri in its Iberian meridional distribution.
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Martín,
Departamento de Biología Vegetal, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos de Madrid, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040-Madrid, Spain
E-mail:
mariacarmen.martin@upm.es
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Parra,
Departamento de Ciencias y Recursos Agrícolas y Forestales, Universidad de Córdoba, Avda. Linneo s/n, 14004-Córdoba, Spain
E-mail:
tp@nn.es
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Clemente-Muñoz,
Departamento de Ciencias y Recursos Agrícolas y Forestales, Universidad de Córdoba, Avda. Linneo s/n, 14004-Córdoba, Spain
E-mail:
mcm@nn.es
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Hernández-Bermejo,
Departamento de Ciencias y Recursos Agrícolas y Forestales, Universidad de Córdoba, Avda. Linneo s/n, 14004-Córdoba, Spain
E-mail:
ehb@nn.es