Document Type
Newsletter
Volume
11
Issue
4
Editor
Paul Rogers
Publisher
Western Aspen Alliance
Publication Date
11-2020
First Page
1
Last Page
4
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Abstract
Mapping aspen genetics and mortality risk: the view from above
Benjamin Blonder
Phil Brodrick
Aspen genetics are a little more complex than human genetics. Humans are diploids, meaning we have two copies of each chromosome. Some aspen clones are diploid like us, but others are triploid, with three copies of each chromosome. Does ploidy level matter for the species’ ecology and management? Well, we know from work by Karen Mock (Utah State Univ.) and colleagues that diploids and triploids can be intermixed within a landscape. And we know that triploid clones tend to be bigger than diploids (Pando, for example, is triploid) and tend to have stems that grow more rapidly and to larger diameters. A few small-scale studies have also now suggested that triploids are at higher risk of drought mortality.
Recommended Citation
Western Aspen Alliance, "Tremblings, November 2020" (2020). Tremblings. Paper 46.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/tremblings/46