Adaptability of new provenances of Quercus suber in Trás-os-Montes: its importance for the sustainability of the forest systems

Quercus suber (Cork oak), an important species in the areas of Mediterranean influence, presents high potential of expansion regarding expected climatic changes. Nowadays, cork oak area in Trás-os-Montes is 6380 hectares and is an important species to consider in the adaptive silviculture strategies in response to the climatic changes. Cork oak woodlands plays an important role on the rural economy, as a source of cork, high quality fruits for cattle, pastures, aromatic and medicinal plants and game habitat. Despite its ecological and socio-economic importance, cork oak adaptability to environmental conditions is poorly understood. Furthermore, climate change scenarios foreseen enhanced water deficits in the Mediterranean region and therefore, to allocate the most adequate seed sources to each set of climatic conditions in future afforestation activities, is an important task for forest landowners. Considering that an important source of variation in the characteristics related with adaptability may be at the provenance level, we evaluated inter-provenance variability at a trial in Mogadouro (Trás-os-Montes). Such trial is part of a multi-locality provenance test belonging to an Euforgen network, where 35 populations from the natural cork oak distribution area are represented. After ten years, results point out the importance of considering the seed origin: significant differences between populations were observed for survival and height. The highest growth is being observed in the Moroccan provenances and French ones showed lowest survival