Primary results of provenance trials established in Eastern Black Sea region on Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich. )

SUMMARY Primary Results of Provenance Trials Established in Eastern Black Sea Region on Taurus Cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) This study was conducted on Cedrus libani seedlings from twenty provenances (seed stands) to determine the optimal seed sources for Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. Three-year-old seedlings grown at the nursery of Black Sea Technical University were transplanted at six different geographical locations, and their morphological and nutritional properties were monitored for three years. Objectives of the study were: 1-to determine survival, height, root-collar diameter growth for vegetation periods in the field; 2-to determine root, stem and needle nutrient concentrations of the seedlings prior to transplanting and after 3rd year in the field; 3 -to compare and classify the provenances and experimental areas based on these observed characteristics; 4-to calculate distances among provenances and experimental areas for the morphological characteristics; 5-to examine the correlations between observed characteristics; 6-to investigate genetic diversity among populations; 7-to calculate the repeatability for nutrients. The results indicated that, there were significant differences (P^).05) among provenances and experimental areas for survival, height and root-collar diameter; genotype x environmental interaction (GxE) was more important for survival, height and root-collar diameter than nutritional properties; phenotypic (r=O.308-0.768) and genotypic (r=0.442- 0.898) correlations between height and root-collar diameters were significant; genetic diversity among populations for morphological properties in the experimental areas varied between 0.439 (for H3 in T2 experimental area) and 0.961 (for RCD3 in G\ experimental area); K and P were the best criterion for repeatability (0.487 and 0.471, respectively). Finally, results from the first three years result suggested that seedlings from Isparta-Belcegiz2 (H3=41.2 cm, RCD3=9.9 mm), Konya-Ermenek2 (H3=41.0 cm, RCD3=9.3 mm) and Antalya-Y.Alakir (H3=38.6 cm, RCD3=9.1 mm) provenances could be used in a 5-10 % mixture to improve the success of the afforestation in this region until further results are obtained. Key Words: Cedrus libani, Provenance (Origin), Morphological characteristics, Nutrient, Phenoytpic/Genotypic correlation, Genetic diversity, Repeatability. VI