Quercus castaneifolia ecotyping on the basis of effective ecological factors on leaf and fruit morphological characteristics in the forests of Guilan province (N Iran)

The Oak genus (Quercus L.) is one of the most important genera of beach family (Fagaceae) that has ecological and economical importance. Chestnutleaf oak (Quercus castaneifolia C.A. Mey.) is native to Iran and distributed in Hyrcanian forests. Pure and mixed stands of this taxon have covered about 6.5 % of Hyrcanian forests. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of ecological factors on the morphological characteristics of Q. castaneifolia leaves and fruits in various habitats of forests of Guilan province. Thus, eight habitats (ecotypes) with variable ecological conditions in the forested areas of Guilan province were selected and in each ecotype 3-5 100 m2 plots were established. 970 leaf and 880 fruit samples were collected from 180 trees. In addition to measuring and recording ecological factors (climate, topographic and edafic factors) of each habitat, 10 leaf morphological characters (six quantitative and four qualitative traits) and nine fruit characters (five quantitative and two qualitative traits) were also recorded. Finally, the raw data were analyzed by SAS, SPSS and NTYSYS softwares. The results showed that ecological conditions in different regions lead to different qualitative and quantitative morphological traits of leaves and fruits, so that the habitats can be considered as distinct ecotypes.