22nd Society for Conservation Biology Conference, USA 2008

Institut für Waldbau I Univ. Ass. DFw. Dr. Raphael T. KLUMPP

Universität für Bodenkultur WienDepartment für Wald- und Boden-wissenschaften

10/04/23 1

GENETICS AND POPULATION STRUCTURE OF AN ENGLISH YEW GENE CONSERVATION FOREST

AT FOOTHILLS OF THE EASTERN ALPINE MOUNTAINS

Raphael KLUMPP, AMALESH DHAR, Bernhard AIGNER, Herwig RUPRECHT, Harald VACIK

Institut Silviculture (BOKU) I Raphael KLUMPP, Amalesh DHAR, Bernhard AIGNER, Herwig RUPRECHT, Harald VACIK 10/04/23 2

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Objectives

3. Material and Methods

4. Results and discussion

5. Conclusions

6. Acknowledgements


Biology

Some attributes of English yew

• Tree type: Conifer

• Age: up to 3000 years

• Height : 20-28 m

• Diameter: up to max of 7m with complex stems

• Canopy: Rounded or pyramidal

• Needle: 1-4.5 cm long and 2-3 mm wide

• Bark: Reddish brown thin scaly

• Reproduction: Dioecious, rarely Monoecious

• Fruits: Round fleshy red in colour

Adult Yew

Female Yew with fruits Male Yew with flowers


World Distribution

The circumpolar distribution of Taxus baccata and other Taxus species from Hultén & Fries (1986). + indicates interglacial records; indicates isolated occurrences; hatched areas indicate regions of common or fairly common occurrence. Broken lines outline the distribution of Taxus species other than T. baccata.

Thomas P.A., Polwart A. 2003. Taxus baccata L. biological flora of the British Isles 229. Journal Ecology 91: 489–524

T.baccata

T.brevifolia

T.canadensisT.floridana

T.globosaT.cuspidata

T.chinensis

T. wallichiana


Taxus baccata - Introduction

Introduction

- Yew is one of the most primeval tree species in Europe, originated 2 million years ago in the late Tertiary period

- It is a slow-growing, long-living, shade loving evergreen conifer tree species in temperate forests

- At present it has gained considerable attention to the researchers as a source of anti-cancer drug Texon

- Yew is also a rare endangered and prone of extinction tree species in Austria


Introduction

1. Competition for light

2. Herbivore susceptibility and Seed predation by rodent

3. Illegal logging and lack people awareness

4. Loss of genetic variation5. Dioecious sexual system6. Unfavourable site condition

7. Lack of proper knowledgeabout management

Cause of Declination

• Slow growing tree species• Seedlings can survive up to several years in shady condition • light requirement increases with the increase of age

• Soil water relation is important limiting factor for seedling survival and extremely reduce seedlings

• knowledge about management is scarce due to less attention

• For preparing decorative substance, like show piece for endlers

• High aesthetic value of timber • Lack of knowledge about its importance• Lack of knowledge as part of natural forest ecosystem

• Bark peeling by deer• Adults and seedlings are sensitive to grazing by cattle and browsing by deer and rabbits• Seeds are predated by rodent

• Lack of mobility lead extinction for small population

• hypothesis: low level of genetic variation susceptible to declination of small population

8. Historical reasons • in the middle age huge amount of yew had been exported to foreign countries for preparing the bows


Research Objectives

The main objectives of this study:

2. To estimate the level of genetic variation and diversity of selected Austrian yew population

1. To characterize ecological parameters for the growth and development of an Yew population in Austria

3. To propose the possible conservation measures


Materials and Method

Materials and Method


Materials and method

Location: Upper Austria

Area: 2.6 ha

Longitude and latitude: 13°23’ 00‘‘ E and

47°49’00‘‘ N

Slope: 28° to 37° or 53% to 75%

Elevation: 480 to 530 meter above from

sea level

Average rain fall and temperature: 1573

mm and 8.2°C

Exposition: North

Case study site Mond See

Mond See



Silvicultural data collectionFollowing data was measured from all yew individuals DBH ≥ 5 cm Tree height , Diameter at Breast Height (DBH), Crown length, Growth

form, Crown foliage percentages, Vitality class, Height class, Damage

Experimental design and TreatmentPlots on regular grid: 30 X 30 mTotal no of plot: 22

3,2m

0,5m

1,6m

5,0m

Regeneration according to different height class and radius

151cm-4.9cm DBH3.2 mCircle-2

31-50cm and 51-150 cm

1.6 mCircle-2

All seedlings, juveniles up to 30 cm

0.5 m Circle-1

Height class Radius Circle

Data investigation of regeneration



Classification scheme for the vitality of Taxus baccata

Vitality class Attributes

Percentages of Living crown

Foliage density Crown formations

A (Very vital) > 70 % > 90 % 1 or 2

B (Vital) 50 - 70 % 75 - 90 % 1 or 2

C (Less Vital) 30 - 50 % < 75 % 1, 2 or 3

D (The least vital) < 30 % < 75 % 1, 2 ,3 or 4

1 = Universally strong crown, 2 = weakly developed, constricted crown, 3 = undeveloped, most unilaterally, clamped crown, 4 = almost dying crown (for detail Dhar et al 2006)


Materials and Methods – Structural Indices

Quantifying the Structural Diversity

Three neighbouring trees of each individual male and female yew at each sample plot has been used to calculate following structural indices (Füldner1995)

35cm, 22m

20cm, 18m

22cm, 11m

2nd Neighbour 3,5m60cm, 32m

3 Neighbour

Target tree yew

1st Neighbour

1,5m

4,7m

Attributes of stand Structure Calculated formula Interpretation

Mingling

Distance to Neighbour

DBH differentiation

Height Differentiation

1

1

n

jiji v

nDM

1

1

n

jiji s

nD

)1(1

1

n

jiji r

nTD

)1(1

1

n

jiji r

nHD

0,1

3)(n reeneighbor t ofnumber Total

speciesdifferent of jneighdour and i tree1

species same theof jneighbour and treei0

Mi

n

vij

treessample ofnumber

neighbour th j from yew th i of distance

n

sij


DBHHigher

DBHSmaller

n

rij


heightLowest

heightHighest

n

rij


Materials and Method- Genetics

Genetic Structure:Sample: trees budsSample size: 95Biochemical marker: IsozymeEnzyme system: 7laboratory procedure according to: Hertel 1996Data evaluation: GSED (Gillet 1998)

Following genetic parameters were assessed

Polymorphic Loci (95%):(0.95 criterion: a locus is considered polymorphic if the frequency of the most common allele does not exceed 0.95, P>95 %)

A/L - average number of alleles per locus

He - average expected heterozygosity= the estimated fraction of all individuals who would be heterozygous for any randomly chosen locus

Ho- observed heterozygosity = No.of Heterozygotes at a locus / total no of investigated individuals

hypothetical gametic diversity: the potential of a population for producing genetically diverse gametes


Materials and Method - Genetics

Enzyme Gene locus Allele no E. C. number

Aspartate-aminotransferase AAT- AAAT- B

23

2.6.1.1

Isocitrate-dehydrogenase IDH-AIDH-B

34

1.1.1.42

Leucine-aminopeptidase LAP-ALAP-B

45

3.4.11.1

Phophoglucose isomerase PGI-B 5 5.3.1.9

Phosphoglucomutase PGM - A 4 2.7.5.1

6-Phosphogluconate-dehydrogenase 6-PGDH- A 2 1.1.1.44

Shikimate-dehydrogenase SKDH-A 3 1.1.1.25

Enzyme systems used for electrophoretic analysis of the yew population


Results and Discussion



Results and Discussion- Population Structure

Species composition of Stiwoll gene conservation forest

68%

18%

13% 1%

Fagus sylvatica

Abies albaTaxus baccata

Picea abies and other broad leaf species

Stand Area[ha]

Other trees species DBH≥ 5.0 cm

[n ha-1]

Tree basal area[m2ha-1]

Tree volume [m3ha-1]

No of Yew DBH≥ 5.0 cm[n ha-1]

Study site 2.6 661 (+/- 20 %) 36.7 384 97

Stand characteristics of T. baccata population


Results and Discussion - Population Structure

Number fo individuals of T. baccata in the netural regeneration according to height classes

5209

0 0

4

1

10

100

1000

10000

Seedling<30cm

30-50cm h 51-150 cm >151cm

growth class

Ind

ivid

ual

s [n

ha-

1]

Vitality classes of T. baccata according to diameter distribution

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

5-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-40

DBH distribution [cm]

Trees [

no

]

least vital

less vital

vital

very vital

48,9

14,4

30,6

6,1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

very vital vital less vital least vital

Vitality class

rel. f

req

uen

cy [

%]

Vitality class distribution of T. baccata population


Results and Discussion: Structural Diversity

Mingling distribution (DMi) for English yew in Mondseee

0

28,625,7

45,7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

0 0,33 0,67 1

Mingling class

ref.

freq

uen

cy [

%]

[0,00- all 3 yews, 0,33 - two yews, 0,67- one yew, 1,00 - no yew as surrounding neighbour to the reference tree]



0

22,9 22,8

40

8,65,7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

0-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6

distance class [m]

rel.

fre

qu

ency

[%

]

Dristibution of distance to nearest neighbours (Dj) for English yew in Mond See



Diameter differentiation with English yew and it neighbours

negative differentiation Positive differentiation

0,4

2,6

4,1

10,3 10 10,3 10

8,1

9,2

5,2

6,3

5,2

6,3

4,43,7 3,3

0,7

0

2

4

6

8

10

12-0

,85

-0,7

5

-0,6

5

-0,5

5

-0,4

5

-0,3

5

-0,2

5

-0,1

5

-0,0

5

0,0

5

0,1

5

0,2

5

0,3

5

0,4

5

0,5

5

0,6

5

0,7

5

rel.

fre

qu

en

cy [

%]

Larg middle small middle LargeVery larg small Very Large



Positive differentiation

Height differentiation with English yew and its neighbours

Larg middle small middle LargeVery larg small

negative differentiation

0,4

6,7

12,913,7

15,1

12,2

8,9

11,1

6,7

5,3

3,32,6

00,8 0,4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

-0,85 -0,75 -0,65 -0,55 -0,45 -0,35 -0,25 -0,15 -0,05 0,05 0,15 0,25 0,35 0,45 0,55

rel.

fre

qu

en

cy [

%]



Genetic structure


Results and Discussion - Genetics

Comparing genetic parameters for different studies on Taxus baccata in Europe

Species Sample size

No of gene loci

Parameters Hypo. gametic diversity

Different studiesP 95 (%) A/L Ne Ho He

Taxus baccata

95 9 78 2.44 1.43 0.257 0.304 42.60 This study

30 18 61.11 2.83 1.37 0.286 0.279 -- Lewandowski et al. (1995)

9-58 6 80.6 2.62 1.48 0.340 0.316 -- Cao et at. (2003)

50-80 5 -- -- 1.4 0.302 0.308 7.84 Tröber et al. (2004)


Conclusion

For Regeneration

• There was not any seedling regarding the height class 30 to 150 cm although 5209 n/ha seedlings were counted,this might be occurred due to the impact of browsing and competition for light

Conclusion

For Pole Stand

• The average DBH indicates a relatively old stand compared to other studies• More than 63 % trees are very vital to vital which means the health condition of yew is very

good• In more than 80 % of the cases neighbouring trees are within 4 m distence • In more than 45 % of the cases neighbouring trees are different species

Genetic Structure of Pole Stand

• Level of expected heterozygosity (He) is within the European range of observations, which means that the probability for local yew decline is low due to high genetic variation.


Conclusion

Monitoring activities•Establishment of fence is recommended for 50 % of the whole forest to observe the impact of browsing•Monitoring the reproduction rate of the mature yew individuals is important for regeneration•Soil water relation should be checked because it is another important factor to reduce the seedling• Evaluate the regeneration status in every 5-10 years cycles and the survival rate of yew individuals will allow sound recommendations for future conservation activities

Recommendations for conserve the yews-

Management activities•Continuous selective thinning will enhance the light availability improve the population health condition for both pole stand and seedlings although ,,,•During the thinning operation care should be taken to reduce the chance of damage•Establishment of fence is recommended for 50 % of the whole forest to observe the impact of browsing

• Awareness building activities are needed to increase the public involvement for conservation initiate

Further resaech Activities• It is necessary to investigate the optimum requirement of solar radiation for the seedling establishment•


Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

For financial support

Landesregierung Steiermark

ÖAD for North South Dialogue Scholarship

ÖOG for One world Scholarship

Institut für Waldbau I Univ. Ass. DFw. Dr. Raphael T. KLUMPP

Universität für Bodenkultur WienDepartment für Wald- und Boden-wissenschaften

10/04/23 27

Amalesh DHARInstitut of SilvicultureDepartment for Forest-and Soil SciencesUniversity of Natural Resources ans Applied Life SciencesPeter Jordan-Str. 82, A-1190 WienTel.: +43 1 47654-4075, Fax: +43 1 47654-4092Email: [email protected] ,Web: www.boku.ac.at

Education

22nd Society for Conservation Biology Conference, USA 2008