Germination and viability tests of three conifers through storage time in the Seed Vauld of the ForestryCommission from the Michoacán State

Abstract

The diversity of forests in Mexico is affected by rapid population growth, which has causes forest resources to be used in anaccelerated way, thus increasing deforestation rates. For this, there are governmental institutions such as the Germplasm Bank of theState Forestry Commission, which is in charge of the collection, processing, storage and analysis of seeds (forest germplasm), forlater production in the nursery. In the present study, the percentage of viability (PV) and the percentage of germination (PG) of theseed lots of three species of the genus Pinus stored in cold storage (Pinusmichoacana,P.montezumae y P.pseudostrobus) wereevaluated, considering the storage time (16 years), as a variation agent, with the aim of proposing its registration. The GeneralizedLiner Model and linear regression showed differences in the averages of both percentages when comparing them between species,being those of P.michoacana greater ( 74.34%) and lower those of P.montezumae (64.66%), by species P.michoacana (190batches) only in PG there was a difference with a positive trend when increasing the storage time, in P.montezumae (216 batches)there was also a difference when comparing the storage time, a decrease in these percentages was observed with increasing storagetime, and for P.pseudostrobus (130 batches) there was no difference, in terms of the representative lot of each species (222131-A02,323152-A03, 322147-A02= batch number), there was no difference in relation to time storage. As a conclusion, both by species andby each lot, it is not possible to propose that they are still suitable to be kept in storage, since they do not present sufficient evidenceof a possible downward trend in their percentages of viability and germination in relation to storage time.