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Abstract
As a first step in acquiring genetic information about oak species indigenous to California's hardwood rangelands we drew on experience from both forest regeneration and species conservation and applied biochemical techniques for rapidly assaying patterns of genetic variation. In a study sponsored by the California Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program we sampled 860 trees from 29 populations of three species of oaks spanning their distribution in California. Using leaf tissue collected from each tree we performed starch gel electrophoresis to assay allozymic variation within and among populations and species. Our findings included some surprises and confirmed certain interpretations made by previous taxonomic work. We found large genetic differences between all pairs of species, including blue and valley oaks, with many unique genes distinguishing each species. Our allozyme results support assigning blue oak to the white oak group. At the population level we found little variation within populations of coast live oak and valley oak. Blue oak was about twice as variable within populations as the other two species. Differences between populations within species were small. We could detect no geographic pattern in allozyme variation in any of the species and no indication of racial or subspecific variation.
Parent Publication
Citation
Riggs, Lawrence A.; Millar, Constance I.; Delany, Diane L. 1991. Genetic Variation Sampled in Three California Oaks. In: Standiford, Richard B., tech. coord. 1991. Proceedings of the symposium on oak woodlands and hardwood rangeland management; October 31 - November 2, 1990; Davis, California. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-126. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; p. 233-235
