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Nuclear genetic markers indicate Danish origin of the Norwegian beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) populations established in 500–1,000 AD

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Abstract

The northernmost range of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is in southern Norway and consists of two distinct and isolated distributions, a single population at Seim in West Norway and several adjacent populations in Vestfold, East Norway. The modest beech pollen deposits beyond these main distributions suggest that the Norwegian beech distribution has never been an extension of the south Scandinavian range. We used genetic markers and historical sources to trace the ancestor populations for the beech at Seim and Vestfold, hypothesising Denmark as the most likely source. Nuclear inter-simple sequence repeat markers, amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), were applied to estimate genetic distances between beech populations in Norway, England and Denmark. The variation in chloroplast DNA polymorphism was estimated using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The nuclear genetic data indicate Denmark as a source for the beech in Norway, although the data are less certain in the case of Seim than in that of Vestfold. The populations from South England were genetically different from most Scandinavian populations. The genetic variation within Norwegian populations was only slightly lower than that of the English and Danish populations, questioning birds as vectors for dispersal. Thus, the pollen data and our results are in accordance with the intentional introduction and documented human migrations across Skagerrak before and during the Viking Age.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Hugh Milner and co-workers (UK), J.S. Jensen, B. Ditlevsen (Denmark), E. Finne, C. Kierulf, Å. Østgård and S. Øen (Norway) for organising the collection and shipment of beech buds. We also wish to thank K.E. Henningsmoen, H.I. Høeg, D. Skre and B. Myhre for valuable literature and discussions. J. Hubert, M. Sætersdal, T. Skrøppa and R. Sørensen have critically reviewed the paper, for which we are very grateful. J. Hubert also checked the English. We thank anonymous reviewers for constructive comments that substantially improved this manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the Norwegian Committee on Forest Genetic Resources and the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute.

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This work complies with the current laws in the countries in which it has been done.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Biology and Environment, Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute, Fanaflaten 4, Fana, NO-5244, Bergen, Norway

    Tor Myking

  2. Department of Forest Biology and Environment, Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute, P.O. Box 115, NO-1431, Ås, Norway

    Igor Yakovlev

  3. CMS—Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7800, NO-5020, Bergen, Norway

    Geir Atle Ersland

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  1. Tor Myking
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Correspondence to Tor Myking.

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Communicated by G. G. Vendramin

Tor Myking and Igor Yakovlev contributed equally to this work.

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Myking, T., Yakovlev, I. & Ersland, G.A. Nuclear genetic markers indicate Danish origin of the Norwegian beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) populations established in 500–1,000 AD. Tree Genetics & Genomes 7, 587–596 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-010-0358-y

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