Patterns and levels of genetic variation in Great Basin bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva.

Abstract

Low interpopulation variation and the high intrapopulation variation, along with paleoecological data, argue for the continuity of P. longaeva throughout much of the Great Basin during the last full glacial. The maintenance of high levels of variation from that time until the present are a result of several factors which appear to include: 1) high outcrossing rates; 2) maintenance of large population sizes; 3) production of large numbers of seeds; 4) microhabitat adaption in a spatially and temporally heterogeneous environment. -from Authors