Use of Allozyme Genetic Markers to Follow the Establishment of White Clover Oversown into Hill Country

Allozyme marker loci Gpi-3,4 and Pgm-3,4 were used to monitor establishment of plants of the white clover (Trifolium repens L., cv. Grasslands Huia) oversown into 3 steep, north-facing hill country pastures. Comparisons of genotype frequencies in samples of the unimproved (resident) populations, the oversown populations 18 months after oversowing and Huia, provided information about changes in the genetic composition of the white clover populations after oversowing. In each case, oversowing brought about significant changes in allele frequencies but the estimated proportions of plants of cuhivar Huia were variable at 24.2%, 92.4% and 100%, indicating that establishment rates can vary not only as a function of the cultivar used for oversowing, but also depending on macro- and micro- • environmental conditions in the oversown paddocks.