Tunisia: Genetic Diversity Assessment of Cork Oak Provenance Trials in the Context of Climate Change

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Abstract The cork oak (Quercus suber L.) is a native species in Tunisian forests; it plays a key role from an ecological and socio-economic point of view. As a result of serious biotic and abiotic problems, its ecosystem has significantly deteriorated, and its natural regeneration is random and nearly absent. Considering this situation, foresters have been assisting regeneration by creating new plantations. Within the framework of the EUFORGEN network, a project collected seedlings of Q. suber from various origins in northern Tunisia in 1997. The aim was to identify the best-adapted material to ensure the success and sustainability of plantations. Samples of 26 populations of cork oak from the natural distribution range of the species were established in five sites with differing soil and climatic conditions. This study evaluates the behavior of these different provenances in the experimental Tunisian site in terms of survival and height growth after 7 and 14 years, respectively. The cluster analysis (UPGMA) showed two groups: one from Morocco, Spain, and Portugal and the other from Italy, Algeria, and Tunisia. Overall, the Tunisian (Fernana) and Italian (Puglia) provenances prove successful and well adapted to the edapho-climatic conditions specific to the Tunisian trial site and resistant to biotic attacks.

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