Genetic variation in natural populations of Abies nephrolepis Max. in South Korea

Abies nephrolepis Max. is a fir species occurring in Northeast China, the extreme southeast of Russia and Korea. In Korea, A. nephrolepis is one of only three native fir species growing in high, mountainous areas with a disjunct distribution. We investigated genetic variation in A. nephrolepis by examining 24 ISSR polymorphic loci in 248 individuals representing eight natural populations in Korea. The level of intra-population genetic diversity (H-c = 0.240) was similar to or slightly lower than that of plants with similar ecological traits and life history. Most of the genetic diversity was allocated among individuals within populations (G(ST) = 0.082, Phi(ST) = 0.041) and the number of migrants per generation (N-m) was 5.56. Nei's genetic distances were small ((D) over bar = 0.027) and unrelated to geographic distances between populations. Implications for the conservation of genetic variation in A. nephrolepis in South Korea were discussed.