Stiinta Agricola (Dec 2013)
Изменчивость шишек реликтовой сосны обыкновенной (Pinus sylvestris l.) в популяциях Украинских Карпат
Abstract
Seven populations of Scots pine, which were kept in the Carpathians since the early Holocene period when this species was dominant in the investigated region, were subject for study. From each test site five normal seed-bearing trees were selected and all the cones were harvested. Tree seed material was collected in winter when cones have their typical size and colour. The analysis of quantitative and qualitative characters of pine cones in the Ukrainian Carpathians suggests that there is a considerable heterogeneity in the structure of plant reproductive organs caused by the spatial variability of this species within its natural habitat and individual populations. A slight inverse correlation between linear dimensions of cones and altitude above the sea-level was noted. The shape diversity of the apophysis of seed scales was presented by all the variants occurring in natural populations described by L.F. Pravdin. The most common shape is f. plana and the least one - f. gibba. No dependencies were found in the manifestation of these characters, which indicates their fixation at the genetic level. The seeds of the relict Scots pine are characterized by the III-II - class quality, their technical germination rate varies between 65 - 88 %, and their absolute germinability– between 79 - 94 %.
