Genetic comparison of natural and nursery grown seedlings ofPinus sylvestrisusing allozymes

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Abstract
Genetic changes at allozyme loci during the transition from the seed to the seedling stage were studied in a natural stand, where juvenile mortality is high, and in a nursery, where mortality is lower. The seed lots were from a natural stand and a seed orchard of Pinus sylvestris in Central Finland. From both seed lots bare‐rooted and containerized seedlings were produced in a nursery. Both seed lots were found not to be inbred as measured by fixation indices at allozyme loci. Correspondingly, neither natural stand nor nursery grown seedlings showed evidence of inbreeding. We observed allelic frequency differences between the seed lot and seedlings of natural regeneration at two loci. There was only one allelic frequency change between the seed lots and the bare‐rooted seedling populations, and no differences between the seed lots and the containerized seedlings. This is in accordance with the hypothesis that less selection takes place in the nursery than in the natural stands.