# Growth and Survival Variation among Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestrisL.) Provenances

Authors: Süleyman Gülcü; Nebi Bilir
Journal: International Journal of Genomics
 (2017)

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## Abstract

Tree height, basal diameter, and survival were examined in thirteen-year-old provenance test established by 30 seed sources of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) at two exotic sites of the species in Southern part of Turkey. Variations within provenance and among provenances and relations among the traits were estimated to compare Scots pine provenance and two other native species. Averages of tree height and basal diameter were 350 cm and 52.7 mm in Aydogmus site and 385 cm and 51.2 mm in Kemer site, respectively. There were large differences within and among provenances for the characters. Sites were similar (p>0.05) for the characters, while there were significant differences (p≤0.05) among provenances within site according to results of variance analysis (ANOVA). Scots pine provenances were higher and had more thickness than that of black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) and Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) which were natural species of the region. There were positive and significant (p<0.05) correlations between height and basal diameter in the species. Average survivals were 56% and 35% of the provenances in the sites. They were 71% and 11% in black pine and 53% in Taurus cedar for the sites respectively.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) is classified as one of the economically important tree species for Turkish forestry in the “National Tree Breeding and Seed Production Programme” [1]. The species grows between 0 and 2700 meters above sea level in Turkey. Pure and mixed stands of the species occupy roughly 750 000 ha in Turkey, of which roughly 475 000 ha are considered to be productive forests (Figure 1).Figure 1
Natural distribution area of Scots pine in Turkey, and experimental sites.Scots pine is one of the valuable commercial forest tree species in Europe and Asia. Besides, it is interesting as an introduced exotic species in Korea, China, Mexico, and New Zealand, where provenance and cultivation trials have been established [2]. Within its wide natural and artificial range in the Euroasiatic continent the species shows large variability of its adaptation and growth features [3]. Provenance trials with forest trees provide valuable information about growth and adaptability of populations often transferred over large geographical and climatic distances [3]. Estimation of provenance variation is also one of the main stages of tree breeding programme, to establish successful plantations and to determine seed transfer regions. Provenance tests with Scots pine date back to as early as the 19th century. Few of those tests would meet the present-day statistical standards required for field experimentation, but frequently the progeny of one stand (provenance) was planted at several experimental sites. Most of those early experiments were limited to the scale of national tests [3]. While many national and international studies were conducted on provenance test for different purposes in the species in many countries (e.g., [4–11]) or different forest tree species (e.g., [12–15]), the present study is one of the first investigations in Southern Turkey which is exotic for the species.The purposes of this study were to estimate variations of tree height and basal diameter within provenance and among provenances, to compare Scots pine to native black pine (Pinus nigra) and Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani) species of the sites, and to evaluate relations between height and diameter in the species to estimate better provenance/s for the region.


## 2. Materials and Methods

This study was carried out in two experimental areas (latitude 38°36′N, longitude 30°24′E, and altitude 1100 m asl. called Aydogmus site; latitude 37°35′N, longitude 30°06′E, and altitude 1180 m asl. called Kemer site in the paper) in Southern Turkey, established by 30 Scotch pine provenances and native Taurus cedar and Anatolian black pine provenances for comparison (Table1).Table 1
Geographic details of the provenances.
Provenance number Country Latitude(N) Longitude(E) Altitude (m) 1 Turkey 40°53′ 3220 1550 2 Turkey 40°38′ 4228 2050 3(GR)∗ Greece 41°17′ Unknown 1600 4 Turkey 41°10′ 3505 1200 5 Turkey 40°31′ 3208 1550 6 ∗ ∗ Turkey 39°58′ 3107 1550 7 ∗ ∗ Turkey 40°32′ 3209 1575 8 Turkey 41°22′ 3320 1250 9 Turkey 40°15′ 4240 2300 10 ∗ ∗ Turkey 39°41′ 3550 910 11 ∗ ∗ Turkey 39°51′ 3106 1320 12 Turkey 38°54′ 3110 1675 13 Turkey 39°34′ 3552 1750 14 Turkey 40°45′ 4233 2250 15 Turkey 41°34′ 3122 1300 16 Turkey 40°23′ 3755 1950 17 Turkey 40°37′ 3139 1350 18 Turkey 41°01′ 3421 1600 19 Turkey 39°58′ 3109 1550 20 Turkey 41°10′ 3503 1300 21 Turkey 40°22′ 3752 1650 22 Turkey 41°02′ 3337 1500 23 Turkey 39°34′ 3260 1800 24 (GR) Greece Unknown Unknown Unknown 25 Turkey 40°18′ 4237 2350 26 Turkey 40°26′ 4235 2250 27 Turkey 40°37′ 3050 1450 28 ∗ ∗ Turkey 39°45′ 3110 1350 29 (FR) France 45°18′ Unknown 860 30 ∗ ∗ Turkey 39°54′ 4118 1570 P. nigra Turkey 37°29′ 3043 1000 C. libani Turkey 37°44′ 3052 1567 GR:   ∗ Greece; FR: France. Seed∗∗ orchards.The experiments were established as “Randomized Blocks” with three blocks and 2.5 × 2 m spacing in year 2000. Each provenance was represented by thirty-two-year-old containerized seedlings in each replication/block. Data of survival, tree height (H, cm), and basal diameter (D0, mm), also called base diameter at soil surface, were collected at thirteen-year-old provenance test in October of 2013. Tree height and basal diameter were measured by Haglöf-Vertex hypsometer and electronic caliper, respectively.The statistical analysis was carried out by SPSS statistical package according to the following model of ANOVA used for the analysis:(1)Yijkm=μ+Si+Bji+Pk+SPik+BPjik+eijkm,whereYijk is the observation from themth tree ofkth provenance atjth block ofith site, μ is overall mean,Si is the effect of theith site, Bj(i) is the effect ofjth block atith site,Pk is effect ofkth provenance,SPik is the interaction betweenkth provenance andith site, BPj(i)k is interaction betweenkth provenance andjth block atith site, andeijkm is random error. Provenances were grouped by Duncan’s multiple range test. Individual phenotypic correlations among traits were also calculated.Correlation between tree height and basal diameter was also calculated by Pearson’s correlation using SPSS statistical package program [16].


## 3. Results and Discussion

### 3.1. Traits

Survival rate, averages, and ranges of the tree height and basal diameter for provenances and sites were given in Table2.Table 2
Survival (%), averages, and ranges of tree height (H) and basal diameter (D0) of the provenances in the sites.
Provenance number Aydogmus site Kemer site Survival H D 0 Survival H D 0 Average Range Average Range  Average Range Average Range 1 52 302 144–555 42.4 18.1–70.1 39 435 115–630 49.2 14.2–74.3 2 39 310 129–599 42.8 12.2–97.2 50 388 72–706 44.9 13.2–68.6 3 ∗ 37 342 97–514 50.3 11.7–79.3 34 350 133–673 48.4 22.1–85.8 4 52 334 121–540 52.3 13.4–108.6 34 323 119–537 44.7 20.0–70.0 5 31 234 84–399 48.5 21.8–78.9 38 304 145–427 50.6 29.4–78.4 6 ∗ 49 301 112–498 46.6 15.2–78.4 43 420 206–650 55.9 32.8–90.7 7 ∗ 47 309 118–623 42.8 13.1–88.3 17 457 194–860 46.3 18.9–91.0 8 56 328 139–535 49.9 26.7–109.2 46 412 170–656 55.5 29.7–90.5 9 34 299 81–527 37.5 14.2–67.6 26 286 167–458 37.3 22.8–59.3 10 ∗ 61 363 148–595 55.9 14.7–107.2 44 322 114–616 50.0 21.0–95.2 11 ∗ 49 314 124–550 49.0 20.4–93.6 53 495 189–731 57.7 31.0–99.2 12 58 319 157–493 52.3 11.9–99 41 435 203–741 62.7 32.6–97.9 13 49 305 130–494 43.8 16.2–80.0 28 367 144–668 46.6 26.4–88.8 14 51 313 153–525 42.1 16.7–106.6 43 400 156–601 46.9 23.0–74.8 15 64 394 167–699 69.2 31.6–129.6 43 415 68–731 60.7 28.0–91.0 16 54 370 168–533 59.4 23.2–103 51 313 108–606 46.6 71.4–23.8 17 56 305 83–505 39.4 12.4–81.8 28 400 210–687 51.9 30.2–80.6 18 63 362 156–582 51.2 14.6–87.8 37 298 70–440 47.9 18.2–67.6 19 66 352 172–518 54.9 17.3–90.9 33 418 190–578 48.1 22.0–69.5 20 76 480 180–792 79.9 27.8–154.9 34 505 150–851 72.0 31.5–120.0 21 61 332 151–506 43.5 17.4–100.3 50 385 193–590 43.2 25.2–74.4 22 64 402 165–606 68.5 19.3–122.4 23 334 87–543 49.5 26.6–70.0 23 69 363 184–580 52.3 20.5–92.2 29 314 152–477 51.2 31.1–81.0 24 50 364 160–655 54.4 20.2–122.4 18 450 84–746 62.7 18.0–100.5 25 57 344 158–545 47.5 15–82.8 34 382 140–603 44.4 30.9–69.0 26 64 345 114–639 50.0 22.9–90.2 22 336 130–508 50.5 24.5–69.4 27 74 419 151–714 64.8 27.7–116.2 23 393 201–614 59.3 36.7–108.8 28 ∗ 81 337 150–599 53.7 19–95.2 30 462 198–866 45.8 18.6–75.4 29 60 427 119–795 58.2 20.9–146.2 33 393 128–659 64.3 34.0–102.0 30 ∗ 60 325 94–508 46.8 20–74.4 30 309 110–519 38.7 18.4–63.3 Total 56 349.7 81–795 52.7 11.7–154.9 35 385 81–795 51.2 13.2–120.0 P. nigra 71 259 107–500 38.8 12.5–67.3 11 313 225–425 43.9 25.2–60.0 C. libani 53 266 129–482 38.0 15–78.8 53 270 76–549 36.0 12.0–62.4 Seed   ∗ orchards.Survival was one of the most important criterions in economical and biological success of plantation forestry. It was gaining importance based on climate change by provenance test. It was emphasized that provenance trials series with many test localities covering a large variation of climatic conditions were ideal for estimates of the consequences of changes of temperature climate [9]. Survival rates were changed for species, sites, and provenances (Table 2). They were 56% (varied between 31% and 76%) and 35% (18% and 53%) in experimental sites. While the survival was lowest (53%) for Taurus cedar in first site, it was the highest (53%) for the species in second site. There was no any higher survival provenance of Scots pine than Taurus cedar in second site (Table 2 and Figure 2).Pinus sylvestris provenances showed better survival performance than that ofP. contorta in Sweden [10]. Average survival was reported to be 44.5% with overall Scots pine provenance trials ranging from 5 to 17 years in Poland [17]. It was 41.5% in 30th year results of provenance trials in the species [3]. Large differences among provenances for survival were also reported in provenance trials of Scots pine in different countries [3, 11, 18, 19]. Significant relationship between survival and population/origin was found in provenance trials of Scots pine [20]. It was known that there could be many environmental and genetic effects on survival. The results showed importance of provenance trials for selection of regional seed sources in plantation forestry. In German Scots pine provenance trial results of Taeger et al. [21] highlight the importance of genotype × environment interaction in response to extreme climatic events, which have to be considered in the interpretation of population adaptation to climate change. In Polish provenance trials, results of Barzdajn et al. [3] showed that the southern populations that moved so far north suffered too much of a climatic transfer. On the other hand, good survival of northern populations in a milder environment of our research site, as compared to their native climate, indicates that there was some potential within those populations to adapt to changes in climate corresponding to that transfer.Figure 2
Survival of provenances for site.Averages of tree height and basal diameter were 350 cm and 385 cm and 52.7 mm and 51.2 mm in the sites, respectively (Table2). As seen from Table 2, there were large differences within provenance and among provenances for tree height and basal diameter. The result was well in accordance with the early results from the species [3, 11, 19, 22, 23]. These results indicated that there was a large variation among tested populations in growth at the examined test site and within species. However, while there were 15–20% differences for height and radial growth among provenances of Norway spruce, qualitative traits such as stem shape, branch density, and shape and health state were similar in the species [12] and had statistically significant difference (0.05>p) among populations of black pine reported by Gülcü et al. [24] for growth characters. Scots pine provenances showed higher height and diameter performances than that of black pine and Taurus cedar which were natural forest tree species of the sites (Figures 3 and 4) opposite to primary results of the trial [25]. However, growth performances could chance for the provenances in the future as also emphasized in Polish provenance trials of Scots pine by Barzdajn et al. [3] and other trials [25, 26].Figure 3
Tree height of provenances for site.Figure 4
Basal diameter of provenances for site.Averages of tree height and basal diameter of seed stand provenances were generally higher than that of seed orchard provenances marked in Table1. This was not an expected situation. However, seed orchards have been established with clones or seedlings, collected from plus trees selected phenotypically from natural seed stands. Besides, it could be said that provenances of the present study had higher height and diameter than early studies [4–6].Sites were similar for tree height and basal diameter (p>0.05), while there were significant differences (p≤0.05) among provenances according to results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) (Table 3) and Duncan’s multiple range test (Table 4). However, site × provenance interaction was significant (p<0.05). The result was well in accordance with the early results from provenance trials of the species [3, 19]. Ulbrichová et al. [12] reported that environmental variables were significantly effective on growth characters in provenance test of Norway spruce. Significant site × provenance interaction was reported in a provenance test ofEucalyptus robusta [15]. The interaction result of the present study showed large variation for selection capacity and adaptation ability to different site of the species.Table 3
Results of analysis of variance for the characters.
Source of H D 0 v a r i a t i o n ∗ F value p  value ∗ ∗ F value p value S i 56.070 p > 0.05 ns 0.007 p > 0.05 ns B j 16.877 p > 0.05 ns 59.829 p > 0.05 ns P k 8.454 0.05 > p 13.034 0.05 > p S P i k 7.637 0.05 > p 4.034 0.05 > p B P j ( i ) k 2.879 0.05 > p 2.928 0.05 > p S i   ∗ is the effect of the ith site, Bj(i) is the effect of jth block at ith site, Pk is the effect of kth provenance, SPik is the interaction between kth provenance and ith site, and BPj(i)k is the interaction between kth provenance and jth block at ith site; differencens is not statistically significant.Table 4
Homogenous groups of Duncan’s multiple range tests.
H D 0 Provenance number Homogenousgroups∗ Provenance number Homogenous groups P. nigra a C. libani a C. libani a 9 a 5 a P. nigra ab 9 ab 21 bc 30 bc 17 bcd 13 cd 7 bcd 4 cde 2 bcde 17 cdef 30 bcdef 18 cdef 14 bcdef 16 cdef 13 bcdef 26 cdefg 1 bcdef 3 cdefgh 25 bcdefgh 10 cdefgh 4 cdefh 7 cdefgh 3 cdefghi 23 cdefgh 5 cdefghi 14 cdefgh 18 cdefghi 2 cdefgh 26 defghi 21 cdefgh 6 cdefghi 6 cdefgh 28 fghi 25 cdefgh 16 hij 1 defgh 23 hij 8 defghi 8 ij 12 efghi 19 ij 28 fghi 10 ij 19 ghij 11 ij 22 ghijk 24 jk 24 hijk 12 jk 15 ijk 29 kl 11 jk 22 l 27 k 27 l 29 k 15 l 20 k 20 m The   ∗ same letters are significantly different (p>0.05). Seed∗∗ orchards.


### 3.2. Correlations among the Traits

Positive and significant (p≤0.05) correlations were found between tree height and basal diameter in Scots pine (r=0.643), in black pine (r=0.405), and in Taurus cedar (r=0.634). Positive and significant correlation was reported between height and growth traits in Scots pine populations [3, 5, 11] and between tree height and branch diameter in black pine populations [24] and alsoEucalyptus urophylla provenances [14]. The relationship could be used in the future studies on the species.


## 3.1. Traits

Survival rate, averages, and ranges of the tree height and basal diameter for provenances and sites were given in Table2.Table 2
Survival (%), averages, and ranges of tree height (H) and basal diameter (D0) of the provenances in the sites.
Provenance number Aydogmus site Kemer site Survival H D 0 Survival H D 0 Average Range Average Range  Average Range Average Range 1 52 302 144–555 42.4 18.1–70.1 39 435 115–630 49.2 14.2–74.3 2 39 310 129–599 42.8 12.2–97.2 50 388 72–706 44.9 13.2–68.6 3 ∗ 37 342 97–514 50.3 11.7–79.3 34 350 133–673 48.4 22.1–85.8 4 52 334 121–540 52.3 13.4–108.6 34 323 119–537 44.7 20.0–70.0 5 31 234 84–399 48.5 21.8–78.9 38 304 145–427 50.6 29.4–78.4 6 ∗ 49 301 112–498 46.6 15.2–78.4 43 420 206–650 55.9 32.8–90.7 7 ∗ 47 309 118–623 42.8 13.1–88.3 17 457 194–860 46.3 18.9–91.0 8 56 328 139–535 49.9 26.7–109.2 46 412 170–656 55.5 29.7–90.5 9 34 299 81–527 37.5 14.2–67.6 26 286 167–458 37.3 22.8–59.3 10 ∗ 61 363 148–595 55.9 14.7–107.2 44 322 114–616 50.0 21.0–95.2 11 ∗ 49 314 124–550 49.0 20.4–93.6 53 495 189–731 57.7 31.0–99.2 12 58 319 157–493 52.3 11.9–99 41 435 203–741 62.7 32.6–97.9 13 49 305 130–494 43.8 16.2–80.0 28 367 144–668 46.6 26.4–88.8 14 51 313 153–525 42.1 16.7–106.6 43 400 156–601 46.9 23.0–74.8 15 64 394 167–699 69.2 31.6–129.6 43 415 68–731 60.7 28.0–91.0 16 54 370 168–533 59.4 23.2–103 51 313 108–606 46.6 71.4–23.8 17 56 305 83–505 39.4 12.4–81.8 28 400 210–687 51.9 30.2–80.6 18 63 362 156–582 51.2 14.6–87.8 37 298 70–440 47.9 18.2–67.6 19 66 352 172–518 54.9 17.3–90.9 33 418 190–578 48.1 22.0–69.5 20 76 480 180–792 79.9 27.8–154.9 34 505 150–851 72.0 31.5–120.0 21 61 332 151–506 43.5 17.4–100.3 50 385 193–590 43.2 25.2–74.4 22 64 402 165–606 68.5 19.3–122.4 23 334 87–543 49.5 26.6–70.0 23 69 363 184–580 52.3 20.5–92.2 29 314 152–477 51.2 31.1–81.0 24 50 364 160–655 54.4 20.2–122.4 18 450 84–746 62.7 18.0–100.5 25 57 344 158–545 47.5 15–82.8 34 382 140–603 44.4 30.9–69.0 26 64 345 114–639 50.0 22.9–90.2 22 336 130–508 50.5 24.5–69.4 27 74 419 151–714 64.8 27.7–116.2 23 393 201–614 59.3 36.7–108.8 28 ∗ 81 337 150–599 53.7 19–95.2 30 462 198–866 45.8 18.6–75.4 29 60 427 119–795 58.2 20.9–146.2 33 393 128–659 64.3 34.0–102.0 30 ∗ 60 325 94–508 46.8 20–74.4 30 309 110–519 38.7 18.4–63.3 Total 56 349.7 81–795 52.7 11.7–154.9 35 385 81–795 51.2 13.2–120.0 P. nigra 71 259 107–500 38.8 12.5–67.3 11 313 225–425 43.9 25.2–60.0 C. libani 53 266 129–482 38.0 15–78.8 53 270 76–549 36.0 12.0–62.4 Seed   ∗ orchards.Survival was one of the most important criterions in economical and biological success of plantation forestry. It was gaining importance based on climate change by provenance test. It was emphasized that provenance trials series with many test localities covering a large variation of climatic conditions were ideal for estimates of the consequences of changes of temperature climate [9]. Survival rates were changed for species, sites, and provenances (Table 2). They were 56% (varied between 31% and 76%) and 35% (18% and 53%) in experimental sites. While the survival was lowest (53%) for Taurus cedar in first site, it was the highest (53%) for the species in second site. There was no any higher survival provenance of Scots pine than Taurus cedar in second site (Table 2 and Figure 2).Pinus sylvestris provenances showed better survival performance than that ofP. contorta in Sweden [10]. Average survival was reported to be 44.5% with overall Scots pine provenance trials ranging from 5 to 17 years in Poland [17]. It was 41.5% in 30th year results of provenance trials in the species [3]. Large differences among provenances for survival were also reported in provenance trials of Scots pine in different countries [3, 11, 18, 19]. Significant relationship between survival and population/origin was found in provenance trials of Scots pine [20]. It was known that there could be many environmental and genetic effects on survival. The results showed importance of provenance trials for selection of regional seed sources in plantation forestry. In German Scots pine provenance trial results of Taeger et al. [21] highlight the importance of genotype × environment interaction in response to extreme climatic events, which have to be considered in the interpretation of population adaptation to climate change. In Polish provenance trials, results of Barzdajn et al. [3] showed that the southern populations that moved so far north suffered too much of a climatic transfer. On the other hand, good survival of northern populations in a milder environment of our research site, as compared to their native climate, indicates that there was some potential within those populations to adapt to changes in climate corresponding to that transfer.Figure 2
Survival of provenances for site.Averages of tree height and basal diameter were 350 cm and 385 cm and 52.7 mm and 51.2 mm in the sites, respectively (Table2). As seen from Table 2, there were large differences within provenance and among provenances for tree height and basal diameter. The result was well in accordance with the early results from the species [3, 11, 19, 22, 23]. These results indicated that there was a large variation among tested populations in growth at the examined test site and within species. However, while there were 15–20% differences for height and radial growth among provenances of Norway spruce, qualitative traits such as stem shape, branch density, and shape and health state were similar in the species [12] and had statistically significant difference (0.05>p) among populations of black pine reported by Gülcü et al. [24] for growth characters. Scots pine provenances showed higher height and diameter performances than that of black pine and Taurus cedar which were natural forest tree species of the sites (Figures 3 and 4) opposite to primary results of the trial [25]. However, growth performances could chance for the provenances in the future as also emphasized in Polish provenance trials of Scots pine by Barzdajn et al. [3] and other trials [25, 26].Figure 3
Tree height of provenances for site.Figure 4
Basal diameter of provenances for site.Averages of tree height and basal diameter of seed stand provenances were generally higher than that of seed orchard provenances marked in Table1. This was not an expected situation. However, seed orchards have been established with clones or seedlings, collected from plus trees selected phenotypically from natural seed stands. Besides, it could be said that provenances of the present study had higher height and diameter than early studies [4–6].Sites were similar for tree height and basal diameter (p>0.05), while there were significant differences (p≤0.05) among provenances according to results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) (Table 3) and Duncan’s multiple range test (Table 4). However, site × provenance interaction was significant (p<0.05). The result was well in accordance with the early results from provenance trials of the species [3, 19]. Ulbrichová et al. [12] reported that environmental variables were significantly effective on growth characters in provenance test of Norway spruce. Significant site × provenance interaction was reported in a provenance test ofEucalyptus robusta [15]. The interaction result of the present study showed large variation for selection capacity and adaptation ability to different site of the species.Table 3
Results of analysis of variance for the characters.
Source of H D 0 v a r i a t i o n ∗ F value p  value ∗ ∗ F value p value S i 56.070 p > 0.05 ns 0.007 p > 0.05 ns B j 16.877 p > 0.05 ns 59.829 p > 0.05 ns P k 8.454 0.05 > p 13.034 0.05 > p S P i k 7.637 0.05 > p 4.034 0.05 > p B P j ( i ) k 2.879 0.05 > p 2.928 0.05 > p S i   ∗ is the effect of the ith site, Bj(i) is the effect of jth block at ith site, Pk is the effect of kth provenance, SPik is the interaction between kth provenance and ith site, and BPj(i)k is the interaction between kth provenance and jth block at ith site; differencens is not statistically significant.Table 4
Homogenous groups of Duncan’s multiple range tests.
H D 0 Provenance number Homogenousgroups∗ Provenance number Homogenous groups P. nigra a C. libani a C. libani a 9 a 5 a P. nigra ab 9 ab 21 bc 30 bc 17 bcd 13 cd 7 bcd 4 cde 2 bcde 17 cdef 30 bcdef 18 cdef 14 bcdef 16 cdef 13 bcdef 26 cdefg 1 bcdef 3 cdefgh 25 bcdefgh 10 cdefgh 4 cdefh 7 cdefgh 3 cdefghi 23 cdefgh 5 cdefghi 14 cdefgh 18 cdefghi 2 cdefgh 26 defghi 21 cdefgh 6 cdefghi 6 cdefgh 28 fghi 25 cdefgh 16 hij 1 defgh 23 hij 8 defghi 8 ij 12 efghi 19 ij 28 fghi 10 ij 19 ghij 11 ij 22 ghijk 24 jk 24 hijk 12 jk 15 ijk 29 kl 11 jk 22 l 27 k 27 l 29 k 15 l 20 k 20 m The   ∗ same letters are significantly different (p>0.05). Seed∗∗ orchards.


## 3.2. Correlations among the Traits

Positive and significant (p≤0.05) correlations were found between tree height and basal diameter in Scots pine (r=0.643), in black pine (r=0.405), and in Taurus cedar (r=0.634). Positive and significant correlation was reported between height and growth traits in Scots pine populations [3, 5, 11] and between tree height and branch diameter in black pine populations [24] and alsoEucalyptus urophylla provenances [14]. The relationship could be used in the future studies on the species.


## 4. Conclusions

In this paper, we reported significant variation in the growth traits and survival among 30 Scots pine provenances and two other native species based on thirteen-year-old provenance trials in Southern Turkey. The variation among provenances and within provenance emphasized importance of mass and individual selection and large adaptation ability of the species. There were positive and significant correlations between growth traits. The relationship could be used in forestry practices of the species such as pruning. The phenotypic selection based on growth traits should be combined by genotypic selection in the future studies.Scots pine provenances were higher and had more thickness than that of black pine and Taurus cedar. It showed that the Scots pine could be used at low ratio (less than 10%) in mixed plantation at the region. Therefore, it was needed to collect more data to draw accurate suggestion for better provenance for the region.



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*Source: 1904623-2017-01-04.xml*