Abstract
Allelic and genotypic variation at 13 different enzyme loci of autochthonous European beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) was investigated in six 110–160‐year‐old stands growing at elevations between 150 and 660 m above sea level on the western slope of mount Vogelsberg in central Germany. The highest elevated population showed the highest number of effective alleles ( N e ), the highest total heterozygosity ( H e ) and the highest population differentiation δ T . Also, the genotype SKD‐A2A3 of shikimate dehydrogenase was significantly more frequent at the two highest elevated stands ( P = 11%) than at the three lowest elevated stands ( P = 1%). Further differences in genotype frequencies between 11 of 15 stand pairs were elevation independent.