Population differentiation among three species of white oak in northeastern Illinois

We used microsatellite DNA analysis to examine population differentiation among three species of whiteoak, Quercus alba L., Quercus bicolor Willd., and Quercus macrocarpa Michx., occurring in both pure and mixed stands in northeastern Illinois. Using individual-based Bayesian clustering or principal components analyses, no strong genetic groupings of individuals were detected. This suggests that the three species do not represent distinct and differentiated genetic entities. Nevertheless, traditional approaches where individuals are pre-assigned to species and populations, including F statistics, allele frequency analysis, and Nei