GENETIC DIVERSITY AND STRUCTURE IN PINUS-PUNGENS (TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE) POPULATIONS

Pinus pungens Lamb. (Table Mountain pine) occurs in isolated populations from Georgia to Pennsylvania. Estimates were made of the levels of allozyme diversity within and among 20 populations of P. pungens from throughout its range. Pinus pungens has the high levels of genetic diversity typical of conifer species (0.242) and high intrapopulational diversity (0.204). However, P. pungens has twice as much of its diversity among populations (0.135) as the average conifer species. It is argued that the high degree of stand isolation and the opportunity for genetic drift to occur during succession are major factors contributing to the population genetic structure of this species.