VARIANCE EFFECTIVE POPULATION-SIZE BASED ON MULTILOCUS GAMETE FREQUENCIES IN CONIFEROUS POPULATIONS - AN EXAMPLE OF A SCOTS PINE CLONAL SEED ORCHARD

The temporal method for estimating variance effective population size (N-e) based on allozyme multilocus gamete frequency data in coniferous populations is proposed. The method was applied to a Scots pine (Pinu s sylvestris L.) seed orchard consisting of 32 clones (parents), and t he genotypes of pollen gametes fertilizing 1280 (N) viable seed embryo s (progeny) were identified. The gametic frequency estimate of varianc e effective population size indicated that the progeny population (its part attributed to pollen contribution) was equivalent to 105.3 indiv iduals in an idealized theoretical population whereas the estimate bas ed on allele frequencies (traditional method) was 156.7 individuals. H owever, the estimates did not differ statistically. The ratio (N) over cap(e)/N was very low (0.0823 and 0.1224 for the gametic and allele f requency methods, respectively), indicating nonrandom contributions of male parents to the progeny generation. The advantages of using the g ametic frequency estimates of variance effective population size inste ad of estimates based on allele frequencies are briefly discussed.