Nebi Bilir

Fertility variation in six populations of Brutian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) over altitudinal ranges

Fertility (number of strobili) was investigated in six natural populations over three ranges of altitudes (215–960 m) in Brutian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) for two consecutive years. The fertility and fertility variation varied among populations and years. The average of strobilus production varied between 173 and 269 in female, and between 533 and 1,060 in male, respectively. The fertility variation did not seem closely related to the altitude, and it was not consistently dependent on the richness of strobilus production. Positive significant correlations were found between female and male strobilus production for all populations and years. Coefficient of variation in strobilus production among individual trees varied between 0.638 and 0.838 for female; and between 0.603 and 0.809 for male when flowering assessments were combined. The clone fertility variations among trees were slightly different among all six stands (sibling coefficient ranged from 1.354 to 1.525) and it is unlikely that trees in typical stands vary extremely in reproductive success.

Variation in Essential Oil Content and Composition of Crimean Juniper (Juniperus excelsa) Berries during the Growth Periods

The study was carried out on content and constituents of essential oil distilled from berries collected from Crimean Juniper (Juniperus excelsa) trees (called genotype in the paper) in a natural population. The immature and mature berries were collected from the trees in different aspects at the beginning, middle and end of growth period of 2010. The essential oil was obtained from berries by hydrodistillation. Its content and major constituents were compared for genotype, aspect and collection period. Environmental and genotypic effects on the content and constituent were also investigated. Results showed that while average of essential oil content was 2 %, it was 1.2 %, 2.3 % and 2.5 % for beginning, middle and end of growth periods, respectively. Eighty-eight constituents representing 99.2 % of the total essential oil were identified in different growth periods. The numbers of constituent were 30 at the beginning, 88 at the middle and 65 at the end of growth periods, while α-cedrol and α-pinene were major constituents. Averages of α-cedrol and α-pinene contents were 42.8 % and 17.4 %, respectively. The differences of the essential oil and major constituent contents were larger for growth periods than that of aspect and genotypes. Variation within clones was higher than that of among clones for the content of essential oil and major constituents. The result emphasized that non-genetic factors (i.e., collection period, aspect) were more important for the essential oil production and constituents of genotypes than their genetic constitution.

Essential Oil in Taurus Cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich) Seeds

Abstract This study was carried out to determine potential of essential oil isolated from seeds of Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich), occupied mainly in Turkey. Rate and components of essential oil were studied on the seeds sampled from 25 open pollinated families of each three natural populations of the species in 2009. Heritability and variations within population and among populations were estimated for rate and components of essential oil. Besides, the rate and components of essential oil were compared for altitude, aspect, age and diameter at breast height. Average of essential oil rate was 1.82 %, while there were large differences among populations and within population for the rate. Totally, 137 components were determined, while α-pinene (27.08 %) and β-pinene (20.35 %) were major components in the oil. Significant differences (p<0.05) were found among populations, and generally age, altitude, and diameter classes for the rate and components. Heritability was very low (0.27) for the oil rate, while it was very high (>0.78) for the rate of major components. Results of the study showed importance of selected material for quality and quantity of essential oil.

Seed Source Effect on Quality and Morphology of Turkish Red Pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) Seedlings

This study was carried out to compare quality and morphology in 1+0 year containerized seedlings of Turkish red pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) originating from a seed stand and a seed orchard based on height and root-collar diameter. Averages of seedling height and root-collar diameter were 13.8 cm and 2.63 mm in orchard seedlings, while they were 14.8 cm and 4.56 mm in stand seedlings, respectively. There were significant differences (p≤0.05) between seed sources for the characters according to result of ANOVA. Stand seedlings were better quality than that of orchard seedlings according to quality classification of Turkish Standard Institute. Positive and significant (p≤0.05) relations were found between the characters in both seed sources based on results of correlation analysis. Results of the study were discussed for nursery practices, plantation forestry, and genetic-breeding of the species.

General over-view of forest establishment in Turkey

Turkey has 9.64 million hectares of unproductive forests 43% of the total forest area according, to 2016’ forest inventory. Forest establishment including afforestation, reforestation, rehabilitation and private plantation is the most important method to convert unproductive forest into productive ones, and also to increase present productivity of product forest by improved seed and seedling materials. Turkish forest establishment is examined based on past, present, and future perspectives according to forest inventory from 1946 to 2015 in the present study to contribute present and future establishment.