Inter and intra-population genetic diversity in taurus cedar (Cedrus libani a. rich.) in the lakes region

In this research study carried out in the Lakes Region in order to reveal the genetic diversity in Taurus Cedar, some seed, seedling and sapling morphological characteristics of 5 populations sampled from their natural distribution areas were examined. For this purpose, cones were collected from a total of 75 families, 15 in each population. The number of cotyledons, root collar diameter, hypocotyl and cotyledon length, and epicotyl length were measured at family level in the seedlings grown from seeds extracted from cones. In one-year-old saplings, sapling height, root collar diameter and trunk/root dry weight ratio were measured. In addition, the width, length, thickness and thousand-seed weight of 20 randomly selected seeds from each family were measured. The collected data were evaluated in the SAS statistical package program. For all studied characters, the level of genetic diversity observed among families within the population was higher than the genetic diversity between populations. Estimated individual-level heritability ranges from hi2=0.13 (Gka/Kka) to hi2=0.95 (Te). Family heritability was found to be between hf2=0.35 (Gka/Kka) and hf2=0.91 (Kb). In this context, for different selection intensities (according to S1=5/75 and S2=1/15 selection rates), the highest total genetic gain (30.23%) was estimated at sapling height. As a result, populations 5, 3 and 2, which are superior to other populations in terms of all studied characters, should be preferred as seed sources in forest establishment studies in the region. In addition, new research should be planned to identify drought-resistant populations and genotypes by adding new ones to the studied populations, especially considering the effects of climate change and global warming, and breeding studies should be continued according to the results obtained from these researches.