Comparison of natural and artificial anatolian black pine (Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana) stands i̇n terms of seed characteristics (a case of Konya regions)

This study was conducted to compare selected morphological traits and germination performance under water stress of Anatolian black pine (Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana) seeds collected from a natural seed stand (TM-115) and from an artificial stand (Altınapa afforestation site) established using seeds originating from the same seed stand in the Konya region. In this context, single-seed weight, thousand-seed weight, seed width and length, and moisture content were determined. In addition, germination trials were carried out under water potentials of 0, −0.2, −0.4, −0.6 and −0.8 MPa prepared with PEG-6000. Germination performance was evaluated using germination percentage (GP), relative germination percentage (RGP), and germination speed (GS). According to the results, single-seed weight was 0.286 gr and 0.283 gr for the natural and artificial sources, respectively, while thousand-seed weight was 24.5 gr and 26.6 gr No significant differences were detected between sources in seed width (3.75-3.82 mm) and seed length (6.75-6.79 mm), whereas moisture content was 6.81% in the natural source and 5.85% in the artificial source. As water stress increased, GP decreased markedly in both sources, declining from 90.0% to 1.5% in the natural source and from 93.5% to 2.0% in the artificial source. RGP remained at 100% at 0 MPa but decreased to 1.6% and 2.2% at -0.8 MPa in the natural and artificial sources, respectively. Similarly, GS declined from 81.0-83.5 at 0 MPa to 0.5 at -0.8 MPa. Analysis of variance indicated that water stress had a statistically significant effect on RGP and GS (P<0.05), whereas seed source and the seed source × water stress interaction were not significant (P>0.05). Overall, critical declines became particularly evident at -0.6 MPa and lower. These findings suggest that the afforestation stand established from seeds collected in the natural seed stand may exhibit a seed profile comparable to the natural source in terms of seed traits and germination responses under water stress, and that germination tests incorporating water stress conditions may serve as a supportive approach for material selection in arid and semi-arid sites.