engleski

INFLUENCE OF CONTAINER SIZE ON QUANTITATIVE MORPHOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF ALEPPO PINE (Pinus halepensis Mill.) ONE YEAR OLD SEEDLINGS

For successful afforestation in Mediterranean karst areas several important criteria must be met, especially adequate tree species and high-quality seedlings. With that in mind, morphological features of one-year old Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) seedlings were analyzed. Seedlings were grown in different types of containers to establish the effect of container type on development (quality) of above- and belowground parts of the seedlings. Four types of containers were used: MP53/12, MP33/18, T7/24 and T8/24. Studied seedling variables (morphological features) include: seedling height, root collar diameter, biomass of the aboveground part of the seedlings and total seedling biomass. Two morphological indexes were calculated from measured variables: S/R ratio and DQI. Morphological dimensions of root systems were scanned and measured with software WinRhizo, namely: total root length, number of root tips, surface area and root volume. Morphological features with regard to container type were evaluated with analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple Turkey's post hoc test. Morphological features of seedlings derived from the samples of 20 seedlings per container type, almost all show significantly higher values in larger containers (T7/24 and T8/24) compared to smaller containers (MP53/12 and MP33/18). Root analyses also show that roots of seedlings from smallest containers (MP53/12) are deformed to a high degree. In larger containers (MP33/18) root deformation is largely reduced. On the other hand, bind of roots into growing medium in seedlings grown in large containers is insufficient, although the roots are not deformed. Seedlings of Aleppo (Pinus halepensis Mill.) grown in container MP53/12 have developed highly deformed root systems because of inadequate dimensions of this container and its technological absoluteness. Therefore is recommended to gradually abandon the use of MP53/12 and MP33/18 containers from nursery production. Further research is needed to eventually define new, modern solutions adapted to production of high-quality seedlings for afforestation of Mediterranean karst area.

Aleppo pine ; container type (size) ; morphological features of seedlings

nije evidentirano