Nordgen seminar, Hämeenlinna, Finland
September 5 – 6, 2012
Seppo Ruotsalainen
Forest Research Institute,
Punkaharju, Finland
Seed orchard seed in direct seeding
of Scots pine – the benefits
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Are
a, 1
00
0 h
a
Forest regeneration of Scots pine by planting and seeding during the last
30 years
Seeding
Planting
Facts about direct seeding of
Scots pine in Finland
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Are
a, 1
00
0 h
a
Forest regeneration of Scots pine by planting and seeding during the last
30 years
Seeding
Planting
Facts about direct seeding of
Scots pine in Finland
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
2003 2004 2005 2006
%
The proportion of seed orchard seed in direct seeding
As compared to stand
seed:
• Heavier (>10 %)
• Better germination
• More expensive (5 –
15 %)
Seed orchard seed Facts and fiction
Statistics: Close to 200 000 ha regenerated by sowing
orchard seed
= 8 % of all Scots pine sowings
= 23 % of all Scots pine cultivations with orchard seed
Currently about 1/3 all sowings with orchard seed
Aim 50 % in southern and central Finland
Studies on sowing of orchard seed
Swedish studies (Wennström 2001 et al.):
- 10% higher plant establishment
- Lower mortality
- Better height growth
Studies on sowing of orchard seed
A Finnish project
Started in 2002
Aim was to compare orchard and stand seed in
direct seeding:
- Germination
- Plant establishment
- Growth
Target area southern and central Finland
Experiments in field conditions corresponding normal
forest regeneration practices
Orchard and stand seed was sown in
comparable conditions
- 4 stand seed lots
- 5 seed orchard seed lots (southern origin)
- 2 (3) seed orchard seed lots (northern
origin)
- 1 control (not sown)
16 seeds/spot, 30 replications (blocks)
Sowing was done on small indentations,
seeds covered lightly with soil
Comparison of seed types in field experiments
Experiments repeated in three years (2002-2004)
Four test sites (in first year only 2)
Number of seedlings counted
- in first summer several times, later once a year
The height of the tallest seedling/spot measured at the end of each growing season
Monitoring continued to the end of 7th growing season
Experimental design & measurements
Punkaharju 2004
Map of one experiment
Locations of the experiments
and seed sources
Koe
Metsikkö
Sv – eteläinen
Sv – pohjoinen
Material in the experiments
Stands
1 98
2 89
3 67
4 78
Seed orchards
5 91
6 98
7 93
8 96
9 96
10 97
11 92
13 97
Representative entries
Nonrepresentative entries
84
Sv249, Pertunmaa 990-1120 2003 5,5 86
Sv323, Mäntyharju
79
Sv320, Joutseno 1020-1170 2001 6,1 66
Sv190, Virrat 960-1100 2001
1080-1280 2001
5,4
6,5
6,6 68
Sv123, Hartola 1100-1300 2001
Sv256, Hartola 1020-1220 2001
5,8 84
6,1 86
Sv124, Iitti 1080-1280 2001 6,1 98
Sv17, Hausjärvi
Kerimäki 1200 1996
1130-1330 1998
4 67
SKA 8.3 1250 2000 5 65
SKA 5.3, Vilppula, Ruovesi 1160 1998 4,7 86
SKA 12.5, Kivijärvi 1020 1999 4,8 95
Preparations for sowing
Sowing work
Punkaharju
Experimental sites
Parkano
Germinated seeds in the autumn, sowing
in 2003
Southern seed orchards best (8 %-unit),
northern SOs equal to stands
Stand
SO - south
SO - North
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
So
lbö
le
Pu
nk
ah
arj
u
Pa
rka
no
Ka
nn
us
Plants, % of seeds
Sowing spots with 4 or more seedlings
Average for whole material
Growing season 1 3 2
Stands
Seed
orchards
Sowing spots with 4 or more seedlings
Comparison of orchard and stand seed
40
60
80
100
1st_year 2nd_year 3rd_year
%
Year
Stand
Seed orchard
-20
-10
0
10
20
1st_year 2nd_year 3rd_year
Dif
feren
ce S
O-S
tan
d
Year
KANNUS 2003
KANNUS 2004
PARKANO 2002
PARKANO 2003
PARKANO 2004
PUNKAHARJU 2002
PUNKAHARJU 2003
PUNKAHARJU 2004
SOLBÖLE 2003
SOLBÖLE 2004
Height of the tallest seedling in spot
Average for whole material
Growing season 1 3 2
Stands
Seed
orchards
He
igh
t, m
m
Height development, tallest seedling in spot
Comparison of seed orchards and stands
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
1st_year 2nd_year 3rd_year
Heig
ht,
mm
Year
Absolute values
Stand
Seed orchard
-20
0
20
40
60
1st_year 2nd_year 3rd_year
Dif
fere
nce S
O -
Sta
nd
, %
Year
Relative difference, %
Average
-20
0
20
40
60
1st_year 2nd_year 3rd_year
Dif
fere
nce S
O -
Sta
nd
, %
Year
Relative Differences %
Individual experiments
KANNUS 2003
KANNUS 2004
PARKANO 2002
PARKANO 2003
PARKANO 2004
PUNKAHARJU 2002
PUNKAHARJU 2003
PUNKAHARJU 2004
SOLBÖLE 2003
SOLBÖLE 2004
Delayed germination in Punkaharju,
sowing in 2003
10.9.2012 20
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
-50 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Dela
yed
germ
inati
on
, %
Transfer, dd
SO-south
SO-north
Stand-repr.
Stand-nonrepr.
r=0,930***
Dependence of delayed germination on the difference in
temperature sum between seed ripening site and site of origin
• Delayed germination most frequent in Punkaharju, in
maximum in 2003 sowing (6.6%)
• Connected to seed weight (+) and transfer of origin (+)
Decrease in number of spots with at least
4 seedlings from 2nd to 3rd autumn
10.9.2012 21
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
14 16 18 20 22
Ch
an
ge,
%-u
nit
s
Height in 1st autumn, mm
Stand-repr.
Stand-nonrepr.
SO-south
SO-north
r=-0.752** Does this reflect
resistance to frost
heaving?
Mortality due to frost heaving?
10.9.2012 22
-20
-10
0
10
20
1st_year 2nd_year 3rd_year
Dif
feren
ce S
O-S
tan
d
Year
KANNUS 2003
KANNUS 2004
PARKANO 2002
PARKANO 2003
PARKANO 2004
PUNKAHARJU 2002
PUNKAHARJU 2003
PUNKAHARJU 2004
SOLBÖLE 2003
SOLBÖLE 2004
Fine soil, late
snow cover
Extremely late
snow cover
(mid-January)
Conclusions
•Plant establishment equal
with orchard and stand seed
•Seed orchard material has
lower mortality in frost
heaving prone conditions?
•Seed orchard material has
clearly better (20%) height
growth
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