Variation in relation to geographical distribution of wild oats-seed traits

Summary A sample of 457 wild oats (Avena sterilis L.) from the world collection maintained at the Germplasm Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, USA, was studied for variation of six seed characters via means, ranges, variances, and frequencies from various geographical areas. It was concuded that region-specific adaptations are responsible for occurrence of certain trait(s) in specific geographical regions; e.g., Libyan and Iraqi collections had high protein percentage, Israeli strains had high oil percentage, and the Middle East and Central Asian lines had a high number of spikelets per panicle. The main conclusion of interest here is that, within the same species, estimates of the amount of variation may vary widely, depending upon the area sampled, geographical scale of sampling, etc., presumably due to the complex interrelationship between genetic and ecological factors.Journal Paper No. J-12670 of the Iowa Agric. and Home Econ. Exp. Stn., Amers, Iowa, Project 2447.