Effect of the state of cork oak (Quercus suber L.) acorns on the emergence and growth of seedlings

Abstract

In Algeria, cork oak forests are of great socio-economic and ecological importance due to their great biological and ecosystemic diversity from east to west of the country. Given the decline of these forests and the difficulty of their natural regeneration, this work contributes to knowing some of the causes that affect this regeneration by studying the effect of the state of cork oak acorns (Quercus suber L.) on the emergence and growth of seedlings. The 917 cork oak acorns, collected from the township of Ain Lamcene in the Bissa forest, were divided into four batches according to their apparent condition: HeNPG (healthy non pre-germinated), HePG (healthy pre-germinated), HNPG (holed non pre-germinated) and HPG (holed pre-germinated) with respective rates of 36%, 30%, 21% and 13%. Analysis of the biometric parameters of the acorns reveals that the apparent state of health has no effect on the length and diameter of the acorns of the different batches; on the other hand, there is a difference in the weight. However, the difference is minimal and can be related to the consumption of the reserves of the cotyledons. The emergence of acorns was higher in healthy lots sown with a rate greater than 80%, compared to hose attacked by insects. The growth rhythm of cork oak plants was similar for the four batches of the sown acorns. In addition, seedlings from healthy acorns showed better development regarding height, number of leaves, and diameter at the collar and root growth than those from acorns attacked by insects.

Keywords

• acorns
• biometric parameters
• cork oak
• emergence
• growth
• regeneration