Inter and intra-population variation of leaf stomatal traits of Quercus robur L. in northern Serbia

Abstract

The research involved the examination of inter- and intra-population variation of stomatal traits: stomatal density, stomatal length and width, stomatal pore surface, potential conductance index and stomatal shape coefficient, in Quercus robur L. leaves. The research was conducted in northern Serbia and included five populations ("Ada Ciganlija", "Bojčinska šuma", "Subotica", "Sombor" and "Vršac"). The stomatal characteristics were examined in fully expanded leaves, from two leaf positions - the sun-exposed and shaded side of the tree. The leaf position in the tree crown, forming a part of the phenotypic variance, was relevant for the stomatal dimension traits. Within populations, the differences between the genotypes (i.e. trees), were relevant for all analyzed traits. On the basis of the analysis of the inter-populational differences, the "Bojčinska šuma" population had a statistically significantly lower stomatal density in comparison to the other populations.