Mating system in natural populations of Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani A.Rich.)

The aim of this study was to estimate patterns of the mating system in 2 natural Cedrus libani A.Rich.populations in Elmalı, Antalya, with the aid of isozyme markers. Isozyme analysis was performed on both maternal and embryo tissues of the seeds collected from Avlankuzu and Çamkuyusu populations. Eleven loci encoding 8 enzyme systems were analyzed. The Avlankuzu and Çamkuyusu populations were a homogeneous and similar gene pool for the loci studied. Based on a multilocus estimator, the proportion of viable seeds originating from outcrossing (tm) was 0.940 for the Avlankuzu population and 0.944 for the Çamkuyusu population. In other words, selfing in the Avlankuzu and Çamkuyusu populations was 6% and 5.6%, respectively. A high outcrossing rate, relatively high heterozygosity, and a lack of significant levels of inbreeding in the study populations are important components of the adaptive strategy of this species. Therefore these populations are not at risk for inbreeding depression is an important finding for theconservation of gene resources of this species.