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Seed, germination, and seed-reserve traits differ along an altitudinal gradient

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Abstract

Turkish red pine (Pinus brutia Ten.), an important pine species for afforestation studies, grows at a wide range of altitudes in the eastern Mediterranean area. Seeds from low (0–400 m a.s.l.), mid (400–800 m) and high (800–1000 m) altitudinal gradients were collected to assess the effects of these gradients on morphological traits (seed length, seed width, 100-seed weight), germination variables (germination percentage and mean germination time), and 10 biochemical variables related to seed reserves. Relationships among these variables were examined with a correlation analysis. Seeds from low and high altitudes had significantly higher 100-seed weight, higher percentage germination but longer germination times and higher total oil and reducing sugars contents. Seeds from mid altitudes had higher carotenoid and soluble phenolics contents. Among the examined biochemical variables, only flavonoid content did not differ among the altitude gradients. The main fatty acids in seeds samples (linoleic, oleic, palmitic and stearic acids) were also influenced by the altitude gradients. Oil and total reducing sugars contents were positively correlated with germination percentage, and carotenoid content was negatively correlated with germination percentage. Our results confirmed that seed and germination variables, including the reserve composition varied significantly among the altitudinal gradients.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the forest management service of Kumluca (Antalya) for providing P. brutia seed samples and information on the locations. Sercan Önder was financially supported by Council of Higher Education under YÖK 100/2000 fellowship program for graduate students.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, 32260, Isparta, Turkey

    Muhammet Tonguç, Sercan Önder & Nesrin Gülcemal

  2. Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forest Engineering, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, 32260, Isparta, Turkey

    Fatih Tonguç

Authors
  1. Muhammet Tonguç
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  2. Sercan Önder
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  3. Nesrin Gülcemal
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  4. Fatih Tonguç
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Contributions

Muhammet Tonguç: designed the study, carried out the experiments, analyzed the data; Sercan Önder: carried out the experiments, analyzed the data, generated the illustrations; Nesrin Gülcemal: carried out the experiments; Fatih Tonguç: designed the study, carried out the experiments.

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Correspondence to Muhammet Tonguç.

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Project Funding: This work was supported by Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) (Grant number 2209-A).

The online version is available at http://www.springerlink.com.

Corresponding editor: Yanbo Hu.

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Tonguç, M., Önder, S., Gülcemal, N. et al. Seed, germination, and seed-reserve traits differ along an altitudinal gradient. J. For. Res. 33, 1903–1912 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-022-01467-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-022-01467-4

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