Carbon and nitrogen of seed and some germination parameters at different test temperatures in Anatolian black pine populations

ABSTRACT

Turkey is the widest distribution area of Anatolian black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold. subsp. pallasiana Lamb. Holmboe). It has a distribution of 4.2 million ha which is the second largest area among conifer species having 27% of the plantation areas (540,000 ha) in Turkey. The variation in carbon, nitrogen, carbon/nitrogen ratios, carbon mass, nitrogen mass and optimum germination temperature in the seeds of different Anatolian black pine populations were investigated. The seed material was collected from 10 populations distributed over Turkey. Seeds were germinated under three different temperatures: 15°C, 20°C and 25°C. Seven populations showed highest germination percentages at 15°C, indicating this temperature as optimum for germination. Increasing the temperature, mean germination time values significantly decreased. All evaluated parameters were significantly different among populations. The germination percentages ranged from 49% to 85% while the mean germination times were between 4.6 and 10.1. Carbon and nitrogen ratios ranged between 52%–57.4% and 4.1%–5.0%, respectively. The magnitude of the variance on carbon (%), nitrogen (%), carbon mass, nitrogen mass traits among populations were 31%, 47%, 30%, 25%, respectively. The highest correlation was found between the mean germination time and the combined of carbon mass and nitrogen mass at 25°C (R² = 0.70).

KEYWORDS:

• Carbon nitrogen ratio
• germination percentage
• mean germination time
• seed reserve

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Forest Tree Seeds and Tree Breeding Research Directorate for the seed collection used in this study. The authors thank to anonymous reviewers and editor for valuable comments that are significantly improved the original manuscript.