Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31298/sl.146.1-2.4
Variability of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) in Bosnian-Herzegovinian provenance test: correlations between growth and leaf morphological traits
Dalibor Ballian
; Šumarski fakultet Sarajevo, BiH/Gozdarski inštitut Slovenije, Ljubljana
Mirzeta , Memišević Hodžić
; Gozdarski inštitut Slovenije, Ljubljana
Abstract
Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L., Fagaceae) is an economically and ecologically valuable species that has almost completely disappeared from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina due to over-exploitation, and through reintroduction and breeding activities it should be returned and protected in areas optimal for its growth. This study aimed to determine whether there is a correlation between the
morphological traits of pedunculate oak leaves in populations where the seed for establishing provenance test was collected with the root collar diameter and height of plants growing in the provenance test.
In the first part of this study, leaves from 27 natural populations of pedunculate oak throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina were measured (Table 1). Ten leaves per tree were measured from ten trees per population. The following traits were measured (Figure 1): K1 - leaf blade length in mm, K2 - leaf petiole length in mm, K3 - the distance of the widest part of the blade from the blade base (on the right side) in mm, K4 - width of the right half-blade at the height from K3 in mm, K5 - (maximum) width of the left half-blade in mm, K6 - incision of the leaf from the central nerve in mm, K7 - incision of the blade base. The second part of the research includes the measurement of heights and root collar diameters of pedunculate oak plants in the provenance test in Žepče in the spring of 2020. The provenance test was established in 2009 from seeds from the same populations and from the same trees from which the leaf material was collected for morphometric analysis. Data were processed in the statistical program SPSS 26.0. Descriptive analysis, analysis of variance, multiple Duncan test, and cluster analysis using the Average Linkage Method for the traits of the height and root collar diameter of plants in the provenance test were performed. A correlation analysis between the morphological traits of the leaves in the populations and the growth of provenances in the provenance test using the Pearson coefficient was also performed. Mutual correlations of leaf traits, correlations between height and root collar diameter of plants in the provenance test, and correlations between leaf traits and height and root collar diameter of plants in the provenance test were calculated.
Analysis of variance for the height and root collar diameter showed statistically significant differences among the investigated provenances, which was confirmed by Duncan’s test (Table 2, 3 and 4). The highest average value of plant height for 2020 had provenance Drvar (445.8 cm), followed by Jelah and Vinac, while the lowest average value had provenance Visoko - Muhašinovići (262.3 cm) (Figure 2). Overflow of provenances was registered for the height. The highest average value of root collar diameter had provenance Živinice (Figure 3), followed by the provenances Jelah and Drvar (10.7 cm), while the lowest value had provenance Nević polje (7.4 cm). The results of the conducted descriptive statistical analysis for morphological leaf traits are shown in Table 5. There was no clear pattern in the formation of groups (Figure 4), which is a consequence of the earlier historical negative effect of man on the pedunculate oak population. A significant positive correlation between height and root collar diameter was recorded at the 0.01 level (Table 6). A positive significant correlation was also registered between the height and leaf traits, except for the petiole length which did not show a significant correlation. A positive correlation was registered between the root collar diameter and all investigated leaf traits except for the petiole length and the incision of the leaf blade base of the leaf blade.
Given the obtained variability among the studied provenances, as well as significant correlations of height and root collar diameter of plants in provenance test with leaf traits, the obtained results should be used in the selection of seed trees and stands, i.e., planning measures for conservation and reintroduction of pedunculate oak in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Keywords
provenances; pedunculate oak; plant height; root collar diameter; morphometric analysis
Hrčak ID:
273403
URI
Publication date:
28.2.2022.
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