The impacts of altitude and seed pretreatments on seedling emergence of Syrian juniper (Juniperus drupacea (Labill.) Ant. et Kotschy)

Abstract

Background Syrian juniper is an economically important species and in danger of extinction. For these reasons, the best seedling production methods of the species should be determined and its plantations should be established. The aim of the study is to examine the impacts of altitude and different pretreatment combinations of cold and warm stratifications, citric acid, shaking seeds in bottles with crushed glass, and different stimulating agents including Baikal EM1, Biohumus, Polystimulin A6 and K hormones (PS-A6 and PS-K) on seed germination of Syrian juniper. To conduct the study, the cones of the Syrian junipers were collected from three different altitudes (1000, 1200, and 1400 m a.s.l.) within the boundaries of Forest Management Directorate of Bozyazı, Mersin in Turkey. The seeds were subjected to three replicates per one treatment (altitude in interaction with pretreatment). There were 100 seeds per replicate. Results Two-way ANOVA revealed significant effects of altitude, pretreatment, and their interaction on seedling emergence of Syrian juniper. Seeds from higher altitudes had higher germination rates in all pretreatments. The highest percent emergence (85%) was recorded in the combination consisting of shaking with crushed glass, both cold and warm stratification, and successive application of stimulators PS-A6 and PS-K. All the treatments with most germinating seeds encompassed shaking in crushed glass or soaking in citric acid, both warm and cold stratifications, and application of stimulating agents. Conclusions The use of seeds from higher altitudes should be considered for seedling production of Syrian juniper due to their higher germination potential. Beyond altitudinal differences, specific pretreatments can rise germination potential more than twofold.

Change of Ba concentration by species and organ in several fruits grown in city centers

“…Another factor influencing the heavy metal accumulation in plants is the habitus of plant [27]. Besides the plant's genetic structure, plant habitus is affected by the climatic factors such as temperature, precipitation, and humidity [43][44][45][46][47] and edaphic factors such as soil texture, structure, nutrient content, and pH [48][49][50][51][52]. Hence, habitus and genetic structure of plants are affected by many factors that are in mutual interaction with each other [53].…”

Diversidad y análisis germinativo de especies arbóreas y arbustivas de interés ecológico en un área incendiada

“…Agave scabra alcanzó un porcentaje de germinación alto (Cuadro 3), lo cual ha sido registrado en diversas especies de Agave (germinación promedio de 91 %) en diferentes condiciones ambientales (Campos et al, 2020;Castillo et al, 2022). La germinación baja de Rhus virens y la nula de Juniperus flaccida y Arbutus xalapensis sugiere un cambio en la escarificación utilizada: Para J. flaccida se propone aumentar el tiempo de exposición al ácido sulfúrico hasta 5 horas (Martínez-Pérez et al, 2006) y la estratificación en frío (Yucedag et al, 2021), y para R. virens y A. xalapensis se recomienda un tratamiento similar, pero con tiempos de exposición al ácido sulfúrico de 30 minutos (Olmez et al, 2007).…”

Micro- propagation and Mass production of Raktan (Lophopetalum wightianum Arn.), A Globally Threatened Evergreen Tree Species in Bangladesh.

“…wightianum, an important riparian tree, faces propagation challenges due to its recalcitrant seeds. These seeds are di cult to store, highly sensitive to water loss, and quickly lose viability (Yucedag, 2021) Considering the above mentioned consequence, in-vitro regeneration of this valuable forest tree species can be a suitable alternative to existing seed based conservation strategy. Tissue culture-mediated plantlets multiplication has myriad opportunities includes year round disease free large number of plantlets production beyond the seasonal effect, true-to-the -type plantlet production and germplasm conservation.…”