Effect of Acorn Thermotherapy and Short-Term Storage on Morphological Characteristics of Related Quercus Robur L. Seedlings

Jelena Kranjec Orlović, Damir Drvodelić, Ela Španjol, Sanja Bogunović, Danko Diminić and Milan Oršanić
Additional contact information
Jelena Kranjec Orlović: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Damir Drvodelić: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Ela Španjol: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Sanja Bogunović: Department of Genetics, Forest Tree Breeding and Seed Science, Croatian Forest Research Institute, 10450 Jastrebarsko, Croatia
Danko Diminić: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Milan Oršanić: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: To preserve the sustainability of Quercus robur forests, which is at risk due to the disturbed natural regeneration, human assisted sowing of acorns or planting of oak seedlings is often performed. However, the success of these methods depends greatly on the use of high-quality sowing and planting material. Thermotherapy is thus often employed to decrease the acorn mycobiota and maintain their quality during the storage. The aim of this study was to test the impact of acorn thermotherapy, followed by a short-term storage at −1 °C or 3 °C, on the quality of related oak seedlings, which was assessed based on the easily observable morphological characteristics. Height, root collar diameter and seedling form were measured or noted for the 1284 and 1190 seedlings at the age of four months and three years, respectively. It was found that acorn thermotherapy affirmatively affected seedling height, especially at the early growth stage. Positive impact on other seedling attributes could not be decisively confirmed because of the lack of the continuity of the effect (not visible in both younger and older seedlings) and the prevailing impact of other factors. Different acorn thermotherapy conditions (temperature and duration) and short-term storage temperatures appeared to be associated only with the occurrence of stem forking at the earlier stage of seedling growth.

Keywords: pedunculate oak; main stem height; root collar diameter; seedling form; field performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1307/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1307/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1307-:d:732253

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().