FERTILITY VARIATION AND GENE DIVERSITY BASED ON CONE AND SEED PRODUCTION IN A CLONAL SEED ORCHARD OF PINUS NIGRA ARNOLD

Abstract

Black pine or also called Anatolian black pine [Pinks nigra Am. subsp. pallasiana. (Lamb.) Holmboe.] is one of the most important forest tree species used in multiple purposes such as conversion of unproductive forest to productive by plantation generally for extreme region (i.e., arid and frost area) in Turkish forestry. Improved seeds produced from seed orchards have an important factor in success of the conversion. Estimation of fertility variation among genotypes is one of the important tools used to produce improved seeds. Female, male, total, and cone fertility variations, and also gene diversity based on cone and seed production were estimated in a clonal seed orchard of the species for three consecutive years. Male fertility (2.63, 2.07 and 1.12) was higher than that of female (1.24, 1.24 and 1.06) for the years, while it was opposite (1.07 and 1.14) for combined years. Fertility variation of cone was higher than total fertility variation for strobili production for the years. The relative status numbers estimated based on the total fertility ranged from 77.5% to 91.9% for the reproductive characters and years. Estimated gene diversity in seed crop were higher than 0.98.