Abstract: To clarify the relationships between natural Pinus tabulaeformis population’s genetic diversity and main ecological factors, this paper analyzed the genetic diversity of different natural P. tabulaeformis populations at three altitudes and in four community types in Dawopu of Chengde, Hebei Province by using ISSR DNA technique. High genetic diversity was observed in these populations. A total of 180 loci were detected with 13 randomly selected primers, and the total percentages of polymorphic loci at altitude and community scales reached 73.33% and 91.11%, respectively. The genetic diversity of the P. tabulaeformis populations was affected by altitude. At medium altitude (1070-1130 m), the genetic diversity was higher than that at high altitude (1230-1350 m) and low altitude (910-970 m), with the percentages of polymorphic loci being 63.33%, 51.67%, and 59.4%, respectively. There existed definite inherent associations between community type and genomic variation. The genetic variation mainly occurred within the populations (90.45% at altitude scale and 75.22% at community scale). As compared with altitude, community type had stronger effects on the genetic variation and gene flow among the P. tabulaeformis populations, with G_st=0.248 and N_m=1.517 under effects of altitude, and G_st=0.095 and N_m=4.738 under effects of community type. It could be concluded that the genetic differentiation of natural P. tabulaeformis populations in Dawopu was more affected by community type.

Key words: Panax quinquefolium, Light transmission rate, Photon flux density, Net photosynthetic rate