The effect of a single selection method on oriental beech genetic diversity in the forests of East Mazandaran, Iran (Case study: Haftkhal forests in Neka)

Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis L.) is one of the most important industrial species in Hyrcanian forests which exploited via forestry projects with various methods, including a single selection method since the last half-century. Genetic diversity in forest trees is critical for their adaptation to the new environmental conditions. This study was aimed to study the effect of single selection method on genetic diversity of oriental beech in the forests of the east of Mazandaran province, Iran by comparing two management method in protected and exploited plots using single selection method in Haftkhal Forestry Plan. Paired sampling was performed from the leaves of 60 mature trees in the control and exploited plots. Ten microsatellite primers were used to assess the genetic diversity. The results showed that a total of all 10 microsatellites loci produced polymorphism bands. The amount of heterozygosity was 0.52 and 0.49 in the control and exploited stands, respectively. The frequency of specific alleles in mother trees were 3.75 and 3.19 in the control and exploited stands, respectively. Based on the single selection method, beech trees were not significantly different in the control and the exploited plots in terms of the total number of alleles, specific alleles, allelic richness and heterozygosity. However, the observed heterozygosity was 41 and 45% lower than the expected heterozygosity in the control and exploited stands, respectively. Therefore, based on the genetic parameters extracted from 10 microsatellite primers; it was concluded that the single selection exploited method did not have a negative effect on the genetic diversity of mother beech masses in the studied forests.