Clonal variation as to the reaction against to drought in the Hanönü-Günlüburun black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold ssp. pallasiana Lamb. Holmboe) seed orchard

Anatolian Black Pine (Pinus nigra Arnold. subsp. pallasiana (Lamb.) Holmboe) is one of the most common and important forest tree species in Turkey. Meanwhile, the stands of this species occupy roughly 4,2 million ha, of which about 1,8 million ha are considered to be non productive forest. Also, this pine species is most important species which can be spread to the steppe regions in Anatolia. The semi-arid steppe regions evaluate as potential afforestation areas. Actually, the seed demand for this species is mainly supplied from current 55 of seed orchards and 79 of seed stands. Most of these seed orchards are still rather young and mainly established after 1990?s. The main objective of Anatolian black pine seed orchards is the production of genetically improved seed for reforestation purpose. The objective of this study was to investigate the variation in clones according to drought stress in Hanönü-Günlüburun Anatolian Black Pine (Pinus nigra Arnold. subsp. pallasiana (Lamb.) Holmboe) clonal seed orchard. To determine clone differentiation in drought hardiness at the germination stage, seeds were subjected 2, 4, 6 and 8 bar water stress by using polyethylene glycol 6000 solutions. As a result, it was determined that resistance of clones to water stress is different according to analysis of Annova and Duncan test. Germination percentage is 48% for control, 16% for -2 bar, 15% for -4 bar, 2% for -6 bar and 0,04% for -8 bar water stress. As a result, it is determined that the most resistant clone for water stress is number of 14.