Evaluation of silver fir provenances at 51 years of age in provenance trials in the Předhoří Hrubý Jeseník and Nízký Jeseník Mts. regions, Czech Republic

Abstract

In 2021, measurements were done at two international provenance research trials for silver fir originating from the same series of experiments. The investigation was carried out in the location Vítkov and Úsov, where both trials were established. Biometric data (tree height, diameter at breast height) were measured and qualitative traits (stem shape, occurrence of stem forking, stem damage, bark pattern, and defoliation) were assessed during the early mature stage of the experiment. Overbark stem volume and per-hectare standing volume were also calculated. Sixty-five provenances of domestic and foreign origin were evaluated in both trials. Although the results do not indicate unequivocally the most suitable or most productive provenance in the trials, provenances of Czech origin including the ones originating from the surrounding natural forest areas perform consistently better than the average. The least productive provenances, on the other hand, were those from parts of Bulgaria, Austria, and especially Italy, which achieved the poorest results even in stem shape. In Czech conditions, therefore, Italian fir provenances have not proved so successful as they have in the United Kingdom.

Comparison of the growth of the provenances of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) on research plots in the regions Novohradské hory and Českomoravská vrchovina at the age of 50 years

“…at the physical age of 48-50 years and were subsequently continuously published, e.g. Fulín et al 2023. In addition to the publication of scientific articles, the evaluation of selected research areas was also the subject of a number of degreegranting theses (Mochán 1994;Kohoutová 1995;Podlena 1995;Karban 2000;Kýval 2012).…”

“…Due to the high mortality, however, it only achieves below-average results, which is related to the ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. When evaluating the growth of Calabrian provenances in research sites established in the Předhoří Hrubého Jeseníku and Nízký Jeseník areas and evaluated in the same time interval as the aforementioned research areas, Fulín et al (2023) outlined the influence of the interaction of the continental climate and an altitude of more than 1 000 m a.s.l. on the development of the growth of foreign provenances in the territory of the Czech Republic.…”

Intensive initial care of silver fir using improving compounds: A way to support diverse forests?

“…Stands of silver fir showed lower sensitivity to different climatic factors than Norway spruce stands in recent studies (van der Maaten-Theunissen et al 2013;Dobrowolska et al 2017;Vitali et al 2017). In provenance trials, Czech populations showed better growth in comparison with foreign, particularly Italian provenances (Fulín et al 2023).…”

Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris L.) Resilience to Climate Change: Insights from Coppice Forests in Southern and Central Europe

“…On the other hand, similar future studies, in addition to the limitations mentioned above (such as the small number of plots), should also focus on other important factors influencing the structure, production, and response of trees to climate change, such as genetics. The provenance of tree species significantly affects the production potential of wood, carbon sequestration, and resistance to climatic extremes [136,137]. Significant genetic diversity was also found in Turkey oak [138,139].…”