Adaptation and seed reproduction of Pinus ponderosa in the dry steppes of Volgograd region, Russia

Pinus ponderosa, a prominent coniferous tree species native to North America, is valued for its robust adaptability, drought resistance, and ability to thrive in degraded soils such as chernozem and chestnut soils. Its introduction into artificial plantations offers significant advantages, including improved ecological stability, enhanced soil productivity, and strengthened protective and aesthetic functions of afforestation. To further test the introduction of Pinus species in the Volgograd region (Kamyshin, facilities of the Federal Scientific Centre of Agroecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) the present investigation was conducted from May 2023 to October 2024 to study the growing conditions and fruiting characteristics of Pinus ponderosa mother plantations. The first collection plot with Pinus ponderosa (1 generation), planted in 1939 (0.52 ha), was planted with seeds received from North America. The second collection plot with P. ponderosa (2nd generation), planted in 1978 (2.58 ha) was established from seeds from plants of the 1st generation. Long-term cultivation of Pinus ponderosa culture at the Nizhnevolzhskaya station for selection of tree species (coordinates 50.078957, 45.370560) testifies to its promising potential, as well as its wider application in artificial plantations. The aim is to study the peculiarities of Pinus ponderosa seedlings development at cassette cultivation taking into account the origin of seeds. Since other researchers found that the yellow pine is close to the Crimean pine by bioecological characteristics, we adapted the technology of cassette cultivation of this species. As a result, it was found that the origin of seeds did not have a reliable influence on the biometric parameters of seedlings. However, seed goodness had an effect on seedling yield. After autumn inventory, the yield of seedlings grown from P. ponderosa seeds (1st generation) was 68.4% and from P. ponderosa seeds (2nd generation) was 71.7%.