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The age of black pine (Pinus nigra Arn. ssp. salzmannii (Dunal) Franco) mother trees has no effect on seed germination and on offspring seedling performance

  • Reyes AlejanoEmail author
  • Marta Domínguez-Delmás
  • Ignacio García-González
  • Tomasz Wazny
  • Javier Vázquez-Piqué
  • Manuel Fernández-Martínez
Research Paper
First Online:
Part of the following topical collections:
  1. Mediterranean Pines

Abstract

Key message

We sampled Pinus nigra cones in 29 trees in an age range of 90 to 725 years. The mother tree age did not significantly influence the pinecone or pine seed size, seed germination capacity, or plant size or vigor displayed during the first year of growth in the nursery.

Context

Pinus nigra Arn. ssp. salzmannii is a long-lived Mediterranean species, with millenary trees residing in an old-growth forest in the Cazorla Mountain Range in SE Spain which is home to the oldest known trees in the Iberian Peninsula.

Aims

This study aimed to assess how the mother tree age in Pinus nigra influences seed viability, germination capacity, and the seedling survival and growth during the first year under nursery conditions.

Methods

Twenty-nine trees aged 90 to 725 years were selected and 60 cones were harvested per tree to study the cone characteristics (size and weight), seed viability, and germination capacity in relation to the mother tree age. Eighty germinated seeds per tree were transferred to the nursery and seedling survival and growth were measured after the first growing season.

Results

Significant between-tree differences were detected for cone characteristics (cone and seed weight, number of seeds per cone), as well as for germination capacity. Notably, however, the mother tree age did not significantly influence the aforementioned parameters.

Conclusion

Forest management and regeneration practices of Pinus nigra should take into account that trees of this species up to at least 725 years old produce seeds with a fairly high reproductive capacity.

Keywords

Pinus nigra Aging Seed viability Old-growth forests 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

We thank Teresa Moro and Valentín Badillo (from the Natural Park Forest Service, Junta de Andalucía, Spain) for providing the sampling permits required for the area and for their interest in the project. The dendrochronological fieldwork for this research was partially funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-number 236-61-001) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Plan I+D+i AGL2017-83828-C2-2-R) and FEDER funds. We thank Antonio Jesús López- Soroche and Juan Manuel Castellano, students at the University of Huelva, Spain; Aldo Carrasco from the University Arturo Prat, Chile; and Ana J. Moreno, Y. Ramírez and Salvador Sarabia, from the University of Chapingo, Mexico, for their help with the lab and nursery work.

Funding

The dendrochronological fieldwork of this research was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-number 236-61-001) and National Geographic Society (Waitts Grant W 329-14). The University of Huelva, Spain, provided the lab and nursery with the needed material to perform the experiment.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Supplementary material

13595_2019_801_MOESM1_ESM.docx (75 kb)
ESM 1 (DOCX 74 kb)

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Copyright information

© INRA and Springer-Verlag France SAS, part of Springer Nature 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  • Reyes Alejano
    • 1
    Email author
  • Marta Domínguez-Delmás
    • 2
  • Ignacio García-González
    • 2
  • Tomasz Wazny
    • 3
  • Javier Vázquez-Piqué
    • 1
  • Manuel Fernández-Martínez
    • 1
  1. 1.Agroforestry Sciences DepartmentUniversity of HuelvaHuelvaSpain
  2. 2.Department of BotanyUniversity of Santiago de CompostelaLugoSpain
  3. 3.Tree Ring LabUniversity of ArizonaTucsonUSA

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