Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is recognised as a forest species of interest due to its multiple uses. The management of forest genetic resources and their efficient conservation suffer from variations in traits and start with seed germination. The aim of the current study was to investigate the germination of seeds obtained from plus trees selected in eight Romanian provenances, as well as to investigate the influence of the origin upon plants’ growth and development. Two experiments were undertaken to test seed germination: one treatment involved water-soaked seeds and heat/cold treatment, while the other treatment was based on sulphuric acid, at different concentrations (50, 70, 90%). The results were correlated with the morphological analysis of the seeds. Satu-Mare had the lowest germination rate within both treatments. Sulphuric acid did not improve seed germination as much as the heat treatment. The highest germination rate occurred for the water and temperature treatment on seeds from Bihor provenance (68.2%). The most distant provenance was Bihor, in inverse correlation with Bistrița Năsăud and grouped separately within the hierarchical dendrogram of cluster analysis based on the analysed parameters of the provenances investigated. The results demonstrated that the genotypes and environmental heterogeneity of the seed origin within the provenances may finally result in different performances.
The identification of the urban areas where bigger air pollutants generally, and metallic pollutants, particularly, concentrations compared to limit allowed maximum concentration are recorded are important in elaboration and implementation of the plans and programmes of air quality management, but also for permanent updating of these and their alignment to the continuous realit y changes. In this context, we emphasize the importance of using the tree planted in urban areas, as bioindicators for identification of air pollution with heavy metals ( Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn, etc. ) , their tendency to accumulate in vegetal material, leaves, and/or needles, respectively, being well known. In majority of cases, the heavy metals environmental air pollution leads to lesions of the vegetal tissue of the trees, mainly in leaves. The research aims to identify the lead pollution by using, as bioindicators, the trees planted in neighbourhood of the stations of air quality monitoring in Cluj - Napoca town. The research objectives consist in identification of the trees as possible biomonitoring agents and quantification of lead accumulation in trees leaves, with the aim of identification the areas where the lead concentration in leaves is superior to the limit lead maximum allowed concentration. The study was developed in Cluj - Napoca, and samples were harvested from trees located in areas from neighbourhood of the air quality monitoring stations respectively: CLU-1 ( Aurel Vlaicu St. ) , CLU-2 ( Centre - area from neighbourhood of Nicolae Balcescu College ) , CLU-3 ( 1 Decembrie 1918 Boulevard) , and CLU-4 ( area around Expo Transilvania ) .
The possibility of monitoring the degree of heavy metal pollution in most crowded Cluj-Napoca town areas using different forestry species as biomonitors located around 4 monitoring stations was studied. Acer platanoides, Acer pseudoplatanus, Aesculus hippocastanum, Betula pendula, Juglans regia, Picea pungens var. Glauca, Picea abies, Pinus nigra, Tilia cordata, Robinia pseudoacacia, and Thuja occidentaliswere were the analyzed species. Microwave digestion of leaf and/or needles tissues and subsequent use of atomic absorption spectrometry was the analytical methodology used for the determination of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cd). Only for the concentration of lead in the tree leaves and/or needles bigger values compared to maximum admitted limit were reported. This situation was recorded in three of the four monitoring stations. Aesculus hippocastanum, was the tree specie that accumulates the bigger metallic pollutant quantities, while Betula pendula, the smallest. A moderate negative correlation was reported between copper and lead (r = - 0.506), which is the biggest among the monitored pollutants.
The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of an electric field and gamma radiation upon the germination of spruce seeds. In order to carry out the research, spruce seeds from different provenances have been subjected to different treatments: electric field (EF) with 10V, 30V, and 50V voltages and intensity of E = 266V/m, exposure time of 15 and 35 min, and gamma (G) radiation with several treatments (1 Gy-31 min, 1.5 Gy-46 min, 2 Gy-62 min, and 6 Gy-186 min). Under the influence of EF, the best results upon seed germination (80.83%) were recorded when seeds were treated with 30V for 15 min, for all provenances investigated. Regarding gamma radiation, the highest germination percentage (87.50%) was achieved in T5G when seeds were subjected to 6 Gy for 186 min. It was also considered the interaction between seeds origin and the different EF and G treatments applied to the seeds to induce germination and further seedlings’ development. The results obtained after seeds were exposed to gamma radiation came out on top compared to electric field treatments, both for the germination and seedlings’ height.
The influence of the geographical origin of eight Romanian provenances of Robinia pseudoacacia on the characteristics of seeds, germination, and growth of seedlings in young stages of life was analyzed. Four experiments were undertaken to test seed germination (thermal treatment at distinct temperatures, mechanical scarification, acetone 90%, and biostimulator). The germination percentage showed that scarification treatment provided the best results among all treatments (41.7%). Seeds soaked in water at 100 °C provided the second-highest germination rate. Furthermore, the same two treatments also assured the highest values for the seedlings’ length. There were registered significant differences among the provenances for the analyzed characteristics, the seed germination capacity, and the growth rate of the seedlings in the first years of life. The study highlighted the resources that could ensure good quality of the reproductive forest material, which can be used in new afforestation and breeding programs. Pearson correlations and multivariate analysis provided interesting and useful information about R. pseudoacacia provenances and 13 characteristics of the seeds and seedlings, highlighting the relationship among them. The results could be of interest for the efficient use of forest genetic resources and the obtention of quality reproductive material in black locust.
The current study aimed to investigate the effect of different treatments applied to sessile oak seeds in order to improve the germination features, development and growth of seedlings. The seeds were subjected to electric field, electromagnetic field and γ rays’ treatments. For the electric field study three distinct voltages (10V, 30V and 50V) and three values of exposure time (15 min., 35 min. and 60 min.) were considered. Displaying the seeds in an electric field for 60 minutes increased the germination rate with 58.89%. The highest value for the seedling’s height was obtained when seeds were exposed for 15 minutes at an intensity of 30V. The interaction between the intensity and the timing showed that treating seeds with 30V for 35 minutes improved significantly the seedlings peculiarities. In regard to the electromagnetic field, the seeds were subjected to a single value of electromagnetic field (B=0,4mT; i=0,680 A) and three values of exposure time: 10 min., 20 min. and 30 min. The sessile oak seeds subjected to the electromagnetic field for 20 minutes induced the highest value of germination percentage (90.00%) and germination index (1.81) and those seeds produced plantlets with high diameter (2.69 mm) and with significant differences towards non-treated plants. For γ rays treatments a dosage of 2 Gy induced the highest value of germination percentage (86.67%), of germination index (2.02); of germination energy (7.7); and of germination speed (7.24). A dosage of 6 Gy decreased the values of the same parameters. Our results showed that a dosage of 2 Gy improved also the growth parameters such as plantlets diameter (2.65 mm) and height (11.25 cm). In short, the physical treatments represent an ecological substitute approach towards the chemical substances presently used to improve seeds germination. Using physical treatments for seeds germination and growth of seedlings might be a harmless alternative for environment.
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