scholarly journals Seed Production and Its Quality in Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst) Seed Orchard Originated from the Białowieża Primeval Forest

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Włodzimierz Buraczyk ◽  
Agata Konecka ◽  
Jerzy Sacharczuk ◽  
Agnieszka Ledochowicz

Climate changes, taking place in Poland, have a very negative impact on populations of many tree species. An example of a highly endangered and, at the same time, very valuable stock is the population of Norway spruce from the Białowieża Primeval Forest. One of the protection methods of a perishing population is to preserve its genetic pool in the form of seed orchards (ex situ method). The genetic material of spruce mother trees from the Białowieża Primeval Forest has been preserved in a seed orchard with an area of 9.74 ha, established in 1996 in the Bielsk Forest District (approximately 35 km west of the Białowieża Primeval Forest). In December 2017, cones from all growing grafted trees were collected on a sample plot of 50 clones. An extensive analysis of the health of cones, seed yield from cones, and the parameters of cones and seeds was carried out, and the relationship between seed quality and position in the cone was determined. The number of cones on the analyzed trees ranged from 29 to 1766, with the average equal to 405 cones per clone. The greatest threat limiting seed production were insects that damaged seeds in cones. No dieback of grafted trees, due to the activity of the European spruce bark beetle, was detected. The share of undamaged and lightly damaged cones amounted to about 88%. However, the average share of undamaged seeds was less than 50%. Our surveys showed that the approximately 25-year-old plantation is able to give satisfying economic result and assure the preservation of the genetic pool of Norway spruce from the population of the Białowieża Forest.

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 647
Author(s):  
Justyna Anna Nowakowska ◽  
Tom Hsiang ◽  
Paulina Patynek ◽  
Krzysztof Stereńczak ◽  
Ireneusz Olejarski ◽  
...  

A current ongoing unprecedented outbreak of Ips typographus (L.) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in the Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF) has nearly eliminated Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) as a major forest tree species there, since over 1 million trees have died. In this part of Europe, Norway spruce has grown for hundreds of years, previously accounting for 30% of forest species composition. The aim of this study was to evaluate 47 “Monuments of Nature” of Norway spruce as follows: (i) their current health status in the managed forests of Białowieża Forest District; (ii) possible causes and changes in their health during the last bark beetle outbreak; and (iii) potential losses from the gene pool. Our findings from ground and remote sensing inventories showed that only 12 out of 47 (25%) monumental trees protected by law survived until 2017 in the study area. The rest (75%) of the investigated trees had died. An analysis of meteorological data from Białowieża suggested that the beginning of the I. typographus outbreak in 2012 was associated with diminishing precipitation during growing seasons prior to this time and subsequent increases in annual temperature, coupled with heavy storms in 2017 toppling weakened trees. A comparison of old-growth “Monuments of Nature” spruce in the region (n = 47, average age 225 years) to seven reference spruce stands (n = 281, average age 132 years) revealed a loss of unique genetic features based on frequencies of eleven nuclear microsatellite loci. Although all studied populations had similar genetic background (FST(without NA) = 0.003 and no STRUCTURE clustering), all monumental spruce trees shared the highest parameters such as the mean observed and expected number of alleles per locus (Na = 15.909 and Ne = 7.656, respectively), mean allelic richness (AR(11) = 8.895), mean private alleles (Apriv = 0.909), and mean Shannon diversity index (I = 1.979) in comparison to the younger stands. Our results demonstrate that the loss of the old spruce trees will entail the loss of genetic variability of the Norway spruce population within the exceptionally valuable Białowieża Primeval Forest.


2011 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Dering ◽  
Andrzej Misiorny ◽  
Andrzej Lewandowski ◽  
Adolf Korczyk

Author(s):  
Vinayak Fasake ◽  
Nita Patil ◽  
Zoya Javed ◽  
Mansi Mishra ◽  
Gyan Tripathi ◽  
...  

: Nanobionics involves the improvement of plant or plant productivity using nanomaterials. Growth of a plant from a seed encompasses various factors which are directly or indirectly dependent upon the imbibition of micro and macro nutrients and vital elements from the soil. Since most of the nutrition is physiologically unavailable to the plants, it leads to mineral deficiencies in plant and mineral toxicity in soil. Either ways, it is not a favourable situation for the microcosom. The new era of nanotechnology offers a potential solution to the availability of the nutrients to the plants due to its unique chemical and physical properties of nanoparticles. Positive and negative impact of these nanoparticles on seed quality and plant growth varies according to the specific properties of nanoparticles. The present review is an attempt to summarize the impact of nanobionics in agriculture.


Author(s):  
Agnieszka Napierała ◽  
Jerzy Błoszyk

AbstractThe necessity of monitoring changes occurring in soil compels us to look for new methods that will allow easy and precise evaluation of the soil quality in a given area. One proposed method is the maturity index (MI) – an index that is based on the distribution of species along the r-to-K continuum in examined populations. In this study, mites from the suborder Uropodina (Acari: Mesostigmata) were examined for their appropriateness in MI-based assessments of soil quality. The first aim of the study was to establish the criteria on the basis of which the evaluation of the r-to-K reproductive strategies was conducted for Uropodina in the examined communities. The second aim was to evaluate the performance of the maturity index of communities of Uropodina as indicator of human-caused disturbance in five areas that are legally protected in Poland. The selected areas were: Białowieża Primeval Forest, Gorce National Park, and three nature reserves: Jakubowo, Las Grądowy nad Mogilnicą, and Cisy Staropolskie im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego. We found that as many as 68 out of the 96 analyzed Uropodina species in Poland are K-stategists. The highest values of the maturity index were recorded for the nature reserves Cisy Staropolskie im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego and the Białowieża Primeval Forest.


2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Mikusinska ◽  
Bernadetta Zawadzka ◽  
Tomasz Samojlik ◽  
Bogumiła Jędrzejewska ◽  
Grzegorz Mikusiński

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 900-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ireneusz Ruczyński

This study tests whether the temperature of tree cavities determines their selection by bats in Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF), eastern Poland. Using a data logger, I simultaneously measured the temperature in cavities selected by bats as roosts and the temperature in available but unselected cavities. The maternity roosts chosen by noctule bats, Nyctalus noctula (Schreber, 1774), and Leisler’s bats, N. leisleri (Kuhl, 1817), during late pregnancy and lactation were warmer than unoccupied cavities, but temperature ranges in the two types of cavity did not differ. A logistic regression model showed that the mean cavity temperature during the night (2200–0400) and the minimum cavity temperature over a 24 h period were crucial for roost selection. This suggests that female noctule and Leisler’s bats selected roosts that promoted juvenile growth and used tree cavities that could save them energy while they were active because the cavity temperatures were close to the lower critical temperature of their thermoneutral zone. I also suggest that selection of warmer cavities minimized the bats' energy expenditure prior to emergence from the roost and that passive rewarming inside the cavity was an important factor in minimizing energetic costs of roosting by bats in BPF. Mean and maximum temperatures recorded near tree trunks increased with the height at which the temperature was measured (ground level, 10, 20, and 30 m), suggesting that bats can gain thermal benefits from insolation of the trunk by selecting highly placed cavities, as was observed in BPF.


2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tore Skrøppa ◽  
Ketil Kohmann ◽  
Øystein Johnsen ◽  
Arne Steffenrem ◽  
Øyvind M. Edvardsen

We present results from early tests and field trials of offspring from two Norway spruce ( Picea abies (L.) Karst.) seed orchards containing clones that have been transferred from high altitudes to sea level and from northern to southern latitudes. Seedlings from seeds produced in the low-altitude seed orchard developed frost hardiness later at the end of the growth season, flushed later in field trials, and grew taller than seedlings from seeds produced in natural stands. They had the lowest mortality rate and the lowest frequency of injuries in the field trials. Similar results were observed in seedlings from seeds produced in the southern seed orchard. We found no adverse effects of the changed growth rhythm. Seedlings from two seed crops in the southern orchard, produced in years with a warm and a cold summer, had different annual growth rhythms. The results are explained mainly by the effects of the climatic conditions during the reproductive phase. Seed crops from different years in the same seed orchard may produce seedlings that perform as if they were from different provenances. It is argued that the effects of the climatic conditions during seed production must contribute to the variation among provenances of Norway spruce.


2000 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 809-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. A. Fairey ◽  
L. P. Lefkovitch

Six trials were conducted on commercial seed fields of creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra L. var. rubra) in the Peace region to evaluate the sensitivity of seed production to the method and time of application of N fertiliser. In each trial, 68 kg ha−1 N was applied using three methods (surface-broadcast, granular, ammonium nitrate 34-0-0; foliar/soil spray of 28-0-0 solution N; soil-injected 28-0-0 solution N) at each of three times (fall, early spring, late spring). No statistically significant (P = 0.05) interaction, or main effect, of method and time of N were revealed for seed yield, fertile tiller density or for several seed quality characteristics. Seed yield varied greatly among trials (142 to 1240 kg ha−1) and averaged 566 kg ha−1. The results indicate that there is considerable flexibility in the method and time of application of N fertiliser for seed production of creeping red fescue in the Peace region, provided it is applied before the commencement of vigorous plant growth in the spring. Key words: Creeping red fescue, Festuca rubra L., nitrogen fertility, grass seed production, grass seed quality


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