Evidence of high self-fertilization in natural populations of eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis)

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Abstract
Arrays of open-pollinated seeds were assayed for allozyme polymorphisms at four loci (Mdh-1, Me, 6Pg-2, and Pgm) to obtain estimates of outcrossing rates for three eastern white cedar populations in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Multilocus population outcrossing rate estimates were low, ranging from 0.507 to 0.745, with significant heterogeneity among populations. Low stand densities and relatively high selfed embryo survival may have contributed to the low effective outcrossing rates observed. Single-tree multilocus outcrossing rate estimates were obtained for nine trees from one population. When estimated jointly with outcross pollen pool allele frequencies, these outcrossing rate estimates ranged from 0.253 to 1.023 with significant heterogeneity among trees. Key words: mating system, outcrossing rate, Thuja occidentalis L.