Variation of macromorphological traits of leaf and seed in three populations of Betula species

To identify diversity in natural populations of the genus Betula in Iran using macro morphological variability of leaves and seeds, a total of 1800 leaves and seeds from 90 trees in three sites of this material were measured. 25 macro morphological characters of leaves and seeds were used. Quantitative data were analyzed via one-way analysis of variance and nesting statistical design. Duncan's test was used for multiple comparisons of means. Cluster analysis was applied to compare and categorize the habitats and principal component analysis (PCA) determined the most important traits to separate three habitats. Multivariate analysis results indicate that leaf length, petiole length, the distance of the widest base of the leaf to leaf spot, the distance between the second and third veins, the average distance between the veins, petiole length, leaf length, leaf width in 0.9 part of the leaf length, number of teeth between the second and third veins and the tip of the leaf, seed length, length and width of seed wings had the most important role in the grouping of populations. The results of cluster analysis showed that different clusters contained different populations. The plasticity was used to determine that whether the environment were effective on the traits or not. The results showed that the traits that are recognized as the main attributes in the differentiation of these habitats, the environment does not affect them in terms of plasticity; and these traits are more influenced by genetics. Therefore, these traits can be used to identify the different populations of this genus in these three habitats as suitable attributes in completing the identification keys provided for the birch.