Jouni Mikola

The effect of seed size and duration of growth on the height of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) provenances and progenies at the nursery stage.

Mikola J. (1980). The effect of seed size and duration of growth on the height of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) provenances and progenies at the nursery stage. Silva Fennica vol. 14 no. 1 article id 5069. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a15010

Abstract

In this paper the connection between seed weight and amount and duration of growth are studied at the progeny level within stands or climatically uniform areas, and at the provenance level within larger geographic areas. The material consists of materials of several experiments in the nursery of Maisala in Southern Finland in 1971–76. The origins of the plant material used in the different experiments ranged from progenies of individual Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) or Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) trees to provenance selections covering almost the whole natural range of these species.

The effect of seed weight on plant height is strongest immediately after germination and subsequently decreases steadily, when the genetic growth properties of the plants themselves become effective. The effect is usually visible at least until the end of the 1st growing season. This relationship varies considerably depending on the material studied. The connections between the duration and the amount of height growth also proved to differ according to the nature of genetic variation. In wide selection of provenances, which show clear genetic differentiation in annual growth rhythm. The variation in the duration of growth accounts for most of the differences in total height growth. At the individual and family level or between provenances of a limited area, there seems to be no clear connection between the duration and the amount of growth. It seems that the duration of the annual growing period is a genetic property, which is not affected by seed weight.

The total height alone in 1-year old test material grown in a greenhouse had hardly any value in the forecasting of growth capacity. The growth differences were caused mainly by the variation in seed size and growth rate differences during the growing period.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

Keywords
Pinus sylvestris; Norway spruce; Picea abies; Scots pine; height growth; provenance; seed size; annual growth rhythm

Published in 1980

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Available at https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a15010 | Download PDF