Geographical Variability of Growth and Reproductive Development Indicators of Siberian Cedar Pine

The study of the growth and reproductive capacity of woody plants in new habitat conditions, comparative assessment and selection of population progenies contribute to increasing the efficiency of plantations created from these plants. The study has been conducted in order to establish the influence of the geographical origin of the parent Siberian cedar pine stands on the growth and seed production of its seed progeny of the Altai (area optimum zone), Leninogorsk and Yartsevo ecotypes. The parent stands are located from 50°12ʹ N (the Leninogorsk origin) to 61°00ʹ N (the Yartsevo origin). The object of the study has been a 55-year-old Siberian cedar pine growing on the “Meteostation” plantation in the suburban area of Krasnoyarsk. The height, diameter of the stem and crown, the crown length and the length of the needles have been measured. The lifespan of needles, the number of whorls and branches in them, the number of shoots with microstrobilae and cones, as well as microstrobilae and cones on the shoot and on the tree have been determined. It has been found that the average tree height and stem diameter differ between the variants by 9.3 and 16.6 %, respectively. The Altai population progeny significantly exceeds others in these indicators. The crown length is 88.4–92.7 % of the tree height, the crown volume is 148.79–309.09 m3, depending on the variant. The needles on the tree in the Leninogorsk variant last for up to 3.4 years, in the Altai variant – for up to 3.7 years, in the Yartsevo variant – for up to 4.7 years. In terms of seed productivity, the progeny of the Altai origin also stands out. The Yartsevo variant is distinguished by a smaller number of cones on the tree. The determination of pollen productivity has shown that 14.5–23.1 pcs. of shoots with microstrobilae are formed on the tree. The excess in the number of cones amounts to 299.0 % of the average value. The trees have been selected based on seed and pollen productivity and are recommended for drawing up mixing schemes when creating forest seed plantations, while it is better to use not only fast-growing, yielding trees, but also pollinating specimens, which will help increase yields on forest seed plantations.