© 1982 by Institute of Chartered Foresters
Relationship of Some European Scots Pine Populations to Native Scottish Woodlands Based on Monoterpene Analysis
Forestry Commission, Northern Research Station Roslin, Midlothian
Monoterpene analysis of the cortical oleoresin was used to study the genotypic variation in six continental sources of Scots pine, representing five named varieties. The two northern varieties were fairly similar to each other but the three from middle and southern Europe showed large differences from them and from each other. Outstanding features were the high levels of 3-carene in the north and of both limonene and ß-phellandrene in variety hercynica. The results were compared with data previously obtained from native Scottish populations and are discussed in the context of the sequential post-glacial migration of the species from the continent into Scotland. It is postulated that the Scottish north-western relicts were derived from middle or southern European sources and the south-western relicts primarily from Scandinavia, while the remaining bulk of the Scottish populations shows similarities with middle European sources.