Allozyme variation in sugar maple at the northern limit of its range in Ontario, Canada

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Abstract
Genetic variation in five populations of sugar maple (Acersaccharum Marsh.) from northern Ontario was analysed electrophoretically for seven enzymes encoded by 11 structural loci. On average, populations were polymorphic at 38.2% of the loci, with 1.95 alleles per locus. Although FST estimates indicated that only 3% of the genetic variability was among populations, there was significant allelic heterogeneity at all polymorphic loci. Canonical discriminant analysis also indicated substantial differentiation among populations. Genetic distances between populations ranged from 0.0009 to 0.0125, but no relationship with geographic distance was apparent. It is suggested that pockets of sugar maple found at the northern limit of its range in Ontario may be relics of a more continuous ancestral population which may have existed during the hypsithermal interval.