Genetic diversity and structure of oak forests in Germany

The German National Forest Inventory is carried out regularly every 10 years and provides fundamentally important information on the condition and development of forests in Germany. Based on samples of pedunculate oak and sessile oak collected nationwide in the course of the fourth national forest inventory, the genetic differentiation of the two species, the degree of hybridization between them and the existence of regional genetic structures were investigated. This revealed a clear genetic separation between the two species with only a low rate of hybridization. Pedunculate oak in particular shows a clear genetic structure within Germany in the form of a north-west to south-east gradient, which potentially traces back to the recolonization of Europe after the last ice age, but also shows a correlation with the gradient of continentality throughout Germany. This could indicate a different climate adaptation of the different recolonization lines. Genetic diversity also decreases slightly from north to south, possibly due to historical differences in regional farming practices.

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