CISOVKA - THE RELIC POPULATION OF ABIES-ALBA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO MAN-MADE SILVER-FIR STANDS IN BIALOWIEZA-PRIMEVAL-FOREST

In Bialowieza Primeval Forest, in 1823 Stanislaw Gorski discovered on the Cisovka Hag, a relic population of European silver-fir (Abies alba Mill.). This population is isolated and most away, 120 km to the Nort h-East, from the border of European-silver-fir distribution. Besides t he natural population Cisovka, there are also man-made silver fir stan ds and clumps in the Polish and Belorussian part of Bialowieia Primeva l Forest. In the Polish part there are four such artificial stands. If the seed-producing silver-fir stands really originated from the Cisov ka population, then they are a very valuable part of the declining pop ulation and an easy accessible seed source. However, if these populati ons were introduced to the Bialowieia Primeval Forest, then they are a potential source of dangerous genetic pollution of the Cisovka popula tion. The relationship of the genetic structure of the Cisovka populat ion to man-made silver-fir-stands in Bialowieia Forest was investigate d with the help of 17 loci of 11 enzyme systems. Genetic diversity of Cisovka population is characterized by the smallest mean number of all eles per locus (Mal = 1.353, includes all loci studied and per polimor phic locus Malp = 2.00). In Cisovka population there is very low-grade of polimorphic loci (Pp = 11.765 with the mean 37.255 for all studied populations). Expected heterozygosity, He = 0.079 revealed very low-g rade of genetic diversity in the population. The observed heterozygosi ty (Ho = 0.123) was similar to this characteristic in other population s. A dendrogram based on Neis genetic distance coefficient (D) among 9 silver-fir populations was constructed. Cisovka in the UPGMA dendrogr am is a distinct population separated from other ones by a very great genetic distance (D = 0.06). Also two man-made silver-fir (B1 and B2) stands are separated from others. Only populations B3 and B4 are combi ned into one subgroup linked to the population Tomaszow Lubelski. Basi ng on the received results one should decide that all the four studied artificial stands were introduced to Bialowieza Primeval Forest from beyond of this geographical regions. There is some reason to assume (o n the GDH2 allele frequency) that man-made silver-stands in compartmen ts 453Aa and 498Cg are of eastern provenance. It is rather certain tha t these stands are not of offspring of Cisovka populations