Biogeographic Variation of Foliar n‐Alkanes of Juniperus communis var. saxatilis Pallas from the Balkans |
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Authors: | Nemanja Raj?evi? Pedja Jana?kovi? Tanja Dodo? Vele Te?evi? Petar D Marin |
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Institution: | 1. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Botany and Botanical Garden ‘Jevremovac', Studentski trg 16, RS‐11000 Belgrade;2. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Chemistry, Studentski trg 16, RS‐11000 Belgrade |
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Abstract: | The composition of the epicuticular n‐alkanes isolated from the leaves of ten populations of Juniperus communis L. var. saxatilis Pallas from central (continental) and western (coastal) areas of the Balkan Peninsula was characterized by GC‐FID and GC/MS analyses. In the leaf waxes, 14 n‐alkane homologues with chain‐lengths ranging from C22 to C35 were identified. All samples were dominated by n‐tritriacontane (C33), but differences in two other dominant n‐alkanes allowed separating the coastal from the continental populations. Several statistical methods (ANOVA, principal component, discriminant, and cluster analyses as well as the Mantel test) were deployed to analyze the diversity and variability of the epicuticular‐leaf‐n‐alkane patterns of the ten natural populations of J. communis var. saxatilis and their relation to different geographic and bioclimatic parameters. Cluster analysis showed a high correlation of the leaf‐n‐alkane patterns with the geographical distribution of the investigated samples, differentiating the coastal from the continental populations of this taxon. Several bioclimatic parameters related to aridity were highly correlated with this differentiation. |
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Keywords: | Juniperus communis Alkanes Needle cuticular wax Discriminant analysis (DA) Principal component analysis (PCA) Cluster Analysis (CA) |
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