Abstract
The paper presents the growth characteristics of one-year-old seedlings of three autochthonous oak species (Fagaceae family): Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.), Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto Ten.) and downy oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.) in suboptimal growing conditions. The analyzed oak species are widely distributed in Serbia. One of the most important benefits of oak species is wood production (Hungarian and Turkey oak), and they have a promising role for the use in the future regarding the climate change as all species can be encountered on dry sites. Acorns were collected in the autumn of 2017 in natural stands and a sample of 400 acorns per each oak species was immediately sown in a nursery seedbed in the form of a random block system with four replicates. At the end of 2018, the available sample of seedlings was analyzed morphometrically. The seedlings were classified according to the number of shoot growth flushes into one-flush-growth and multi-flush growth seedlings. Turkey Oak had the highest number of seedlings which also recorded higher values in total height, root collar diameter and number of leaves. These results were obtained on alkaline soil with the presence of weeds and rodents and the absence of irrigating. The presence of multi-flush growth was recorded in all three oak species. Differences between analyzed three oak species exist in these suboptimal conditions. However, in full light conditions, a similar growth pattern was recorded, indicating to the similar adaptability of the species.
Highlights
The knowledge of growth characteristics of one-year-old plants is important from several aspects in forestry
In Serbia, the reported characteristics of multi-flush growth of one-year-old plants of autochthonous oak species can be examined on the basis of previous research carried out on pedunculate oak (Bobinac 1994, 1999, 2011; Bobinac and Vilotić 1994; Pap et al 2013), Turkey oak (Bobinac and Vilotić 1997, 1998; Bobinac 1997, 2001, 2002), sessile oak (Krstić et al 2018) and Hungarian oak (Šušić 2017; Šušić et al 2019)
In the same site conditions, in full daylight in 2016, but under more intensive cultivation, the one-year-old Hungarian oak seedlings had the average values of total height 9.7 cm, the number of leaves 7.9 and root collar diameter 3.7 mm and three flushes were recorded on some of the plants (Šušić et al 2019)
Summary
The knowledge of growth characteristics of one-year-old plants is important from several aspects in forestry. From the aspect of species bioecology, the growth characteristics show the reaction of plants to growing conditions. In the forestry stand conditions that are under certain anthropogenic impact the growth characteristics include a wider norm of reaction in plants and are considered from a silvicultural standpoint (Bobinac 2011). In Serbia, the reported characteristics of multi-flush growth of one-year-old plants of autochthonous oak species can be examined on the basis of previous research carried out on pedunculate oak (Bobinac 1994, 1999, 2011; Bobinac and Vilotić 1994; Pap et al 2013), Turkey oak (Bobinac and Vilotić 1997, 1998; Bobinac 1997, 2001, 2002), sessile oak (Krstić et al 2018) and Hungarian oak (Šušić 2017; Šušić et al 2019). As a rare and endangered species (Šijačić-Nikolić et al 2016), whose status is highly unfavorable in Serbia (Banković et al 2009), and is potentially important for wider use in terms of emerging climate change (Pasta et al 2016), is almost unexplored in literature in Serbia, when it comes to juvenile phases of development
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