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In degraded environments with restricted seed availability, like those burned by wildfires in central Chile during 2017, the use of plant material from outside its area of origin for restoration purposes needs to be accurately investigated. We assessed the early development of three Chilean provenances of Quillaja saponaria grown in different container sizes (140 vs. 280 mL) in the nursery and then outplanted in a common field trial at a site severely affected by fire under Mediterranean-type climate. We analyzed growth, biomass, and leaf-level physiological traits. In the nursery, there was a significant provenance by container type interaction for the biomass traits (P < 0.05). Seedlings from the Maule provenance cultivated in larger containers had the highest biomass, while the lowest biomass was observed for the Metropolitan provenance cultivated in small containers. Two years after outplanting, the provenance by container size interaction was significant for stomatal conductance and chlorophyll density. Seedlings from the Metropolitan provenance cultivated in larger containers exhibited a higher stomatal conductance, while those from the Maule provenance cultivated in small containers exhibited the highest chlorophyll density. Seedling height showed significant variation for provenance and container size. The tallest seedlings were those grown in larger containers from the Maule provenance; however, no differences in survival and height increment were found. Gas exchange parameters differed among provenances, the Metropolitan provenance had a low performance and the opposite was found for the Biobio and Maule provenances. This study demonstrated that different provenances of Q. saponaria have stable performances in a Mediterranean site, which support their use for restoration purposes outside their home area with no detrimental effects on outplanting performance.

The aim of the present work is to study possible differences in the germination behavior of apical and basal seeds (produced in the upper and lower fruits of the infruitescence), of two populations of field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense), both produced in a Mediterranean and a continental temperate climate. The results showed that among the three studied factors (population, seed type, production site), only the production site was relevant for the total germination, germinating those produced in Morris in a greater amount than those produced in Lleida. Germination models could be applied only to seeds produced at Morris (&gt, 10% germination), and despite the lack of differences in the total germination percentage, germination rates (speed&mdash, b parameter&mdash, and time to 50% germination&mdash, G50) differed between population and seed types&mdash, apical seeds from the Spanish population germinated faster (lower b parameter) than the rest, while apical seeds of both populations germinated faster than the corresponding basal seeds (lower G50). The results show, on the one hand, the importance of the seed production site if this species was considered as a commercial oilseed crop and, on the other hand, differences that will help seed selection for seed germination and establishment improvement of pennycress.

We studied field performance of containerised Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies seedlings of different provenances. Shoot height, needle chemical composition, root collar diameter, root mycorrhization and mycorrhizal species composition were evaluated after four growing seasons following outplanting. The results showed that in general spruce had better survival than pine. Ectomycorrhizas on spruce were dominated by Wilcoxina, Amphinema and Tylospora, while on pine — by Suillus and Thelephora species. Spruce and pine showing best growth rates were colonised by ectomycorrhizal fungus Amphinema sp. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that forest nursery practices as well as provenance can significantly impact survival, growth and mycorrhization of the containerised pine and spruce seedlings.

To investigate the effect of seed origin on the nutritive value of narrowleaf birdsfoot trefoil (NBT, Lotus tenuisWaldst.&Kit.), seeds of 86 NBT populations were collected from plants spontaneously occurring in natural pastures andrangelands located at different geographical gradients of the Black Sea Region, Turkey. Some nutrient contents of thesepopulations regrown under the same conditions were determined. Minimum and maximum values with regard to the crudeprotein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), Ca, P, Mg, K and condensed tannin contents,relative feed value, Ca P-1 and K (Ca+Mg)-1 ratios were found as 176.83 and 238.87, 201.00 and 351.61, 307.19 and435.48, 15.01 and 21.60, 2.18 and 3.77, 3.03 and 4.02, 8.43 and 16.69, 20.00 and 31.50 g kg-1 dry matter, 189.70 and263.41, 4.73 and 9.57, 0.35 and 0.88, respectively. The effects of seed genotype from different altitudes (Ca P-1), latitudes(digestible dry matter and ADF) and longitudes (CP and Mg) on some nutrient contents and feed values were foundsignificant (P

Ocak, Nuh/0000-0001-7393-1373; WOS: 000364498300002 To investigate the effects of seed origin on the nutrient content and nutritive value of birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), seeds of wild birdsfoot trefoil (WBT) communities were collected from plants spontaneously occurring in pasture, rangelands and silvopastoral areas located at four altitudes, two latitudes and eight longitudes ranges of the Black Sea Region, Turkey. The relative feed value (RFV) and metabolizable energy (ME), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K) and condensed tannins (CT) contents, K/(Ca + Mg) and Ca/P ratios of 126 populations from these seeds collected from different locations and grown under the same climatic conditions were determined. Altitude was significantly correlated with the abundance of WBT (r(2) = 0.71). The abundance of population (percentage of WBT populations) in the silvopastoral areas (58.4 %) was higher than that in upland (5.6 %), pasture (16.7 %) and rangeland (19.3 %). The ME, RFV and ADF, NDF, P, K and CT contents of populations were not influenced by altitudinal and geographical gradients. There were obvious effects of altitude on Ca and Mg, of latitude on Ca and of longitude on CP, Ca and Mg, and also on Ca/P and K/(Ca + Mg) ratios. This study provided information on genetic potentials of WBT populations in terms of nutritional properties. The results indicated that seeds selected from the populations that have high feed value can be used to improve the studied areas or artificial pasture and agroforest landscapes. Scientific and Technological Research Council, TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [TOVAG-108O658] The authors acknowledge the financial support provided The Scientific and Technological Research Council, TUBITAK (TOVAG-108O658). The authors are grateful for the support of the staff and facilities of Field Crops Department, Agriculture Faculty, Ondokuz Mayis University and the Black Sea Agricultural Research Institute. The authors thanks for his critical editing of the manuscript to Dr. A.V. Garipoglu.

Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) occurs naturally in a wide variety of sites around SW Europe, from typical Mediterranean climates to areas in Northern Spain and France with a strong oceanic influence. Within its distribution range populations are strongly differentiated, showing local adaptations to environmental conditions that have been widely documented in different provenance trials both in the Atlantic region and in the Mediterranean area. In the present paper, we analyzed the performance of six Mediterranean provenances in three sites in the interior of Galicia (NW Spain), a transitional region between Atlantic and Mediterranean climates where few catalogued materials are available for reforestation. Seven year after planting, provenances coming from the mildest climates grew faster but showed inferior stem form. The provenance x site interaction was weak, although some significant provenance rank changes were observed in the driest site. Among the tested provenances, Serranía de Cuenca showed good early growth in all sites and acceptable stem form, being thus a potential recommended material for using in the area. The Albarracin origin showed also good results, with excellent stem form and acceptable growth, especially in the driest site. A combined spatial analysis allowed us to compare the tested provenances with improved materials from Coastal Galicia (NW Spain) and Western Australia planted in adjacent progeny trials. Although the differences were small, the Atlantic material of both breeding programs performed slightly better than the Mediterranean provenances, and represents another alternative material for use in reforestation in this transitional climate region., This study was supported, during the last years, by the INIA projects RTA05-173 and RTA07-100.