Provenance variation in seed germination and seedling growth of Acacia nilotica ssp. indica in India

Abstract

Acacia nilotica ssp. indica, a multipurpose tree species occurs throughout semi-arid India. The present study reports the variation in seed germination and seedling growth of 21 sites (provenances) collected between the latitude 11 °N and 31 ° 23'N, and 19 m to 650 m altitude throughout India. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) between the sites for seed germination that varied from 16 to 90% in the incubator, and 14 to 84% in the nursery_ Significant variations were also observed in seedling growth up to 28 days in the incubator. There was no significant relationship between seed germination and seedling growth and the latitude or longitude of the original seed source. However, in general the South Indian provenances showed lower germination as compared to North Indian provenances. The observations are important for selection of vigorous provenances concerning seed germination and early seedling growth_

Effects of seed sources and shade on vigor of Brant's oak seedling

“…Our results detected that seedling growth decreases with increasing altitude, and that higher altitudes have lower emergence, ER, RL, SL, SRDW, and LA. A similar trend of decreasing seedling growth with increasing altitude has been detected in provenance tests of Abies species (Bongarten and Hanover 1986), but Krishan and Toky (1996) reported that there was no significant relationship between Acacia nilotica ssp. indica seed germination and seedling growth with the latitude or longitude of the original seed source.…”

Ecology of seed and seedling growth for conservation and restoration of tropical dry forest : a review

“…Variations in percentage germination and rate of seedling growth among provenances have been observed in several Indian dry tropical species such as Prosopis cineraria (Arya et al 1995), Albizia lebbeck (Roy 1985), Lagerstroemia parviflora (Prasad et al 1988) and Acacia nilotica (Krishnan & Toky 1995a).…”

Variation in Growth Performance of Acacia nilotica Willd. ex Del. Provenances of Wide Geographical Origin : Six Year Results

“…Exploration of naturally Ginwal et al·Silvae Genetica (2004) existing variability offers scope to tree breeder for making rapid genetic advance at relatively low cost in terms of energy and finance. The form and growth of A. nilotica varies considerably in different provenances (SHIVKUMAR and BANERJEE, 1986;KRISHAN and TOKY, 1995). Considerable seed source and provenance difference in A. nilotica have been reported in seed, seedling characteristics and early growth performance in many recent studies conducted in India (GINWAL et al, 1994(GINWAL et al, , 1995(GINWAL et al, , 1996MATHUR et al, 1984;SHIVKUMAR and BANERJEE, 1986;BAGCHI and DOBRIYAL, 1990).…”

“…Considerable seed source and provenance difference in A. nilotica have been reported in seed, seedling characteristics and early growth performance in many recent studies conducted in India (GINWAL et al, 1994(GINWAL et al, , 1995(GINWAL et al, , 1996MATHUR et al, 1984;SHIVKUMAR and BANERJEE, 1986;BAGCHI and DOBRIYAL, 1990). However, information on field performance of the provenances is little (SHIVKUMAR and BANERJEE, 1986;KRISHAN and TOKY, 1995), that too on provenances emanating from wide geographical zones.…”

“…The apparent high phenotypic variability between the populations (SHIVKUMAR and BANERJEE, 1986;GINWAL et al, 1995GINWAL et al, , 1996KRISHAN and TOKY, 1995) in seed and seedling characteristics of A. nilotica warrants for evaluating provenances in field for achieving the economic benefits through selection. The present investigation was undertaken to find out the pattern and magnitude of genetic variation in growth characteristics of 20 A. nilotica provenances of wide geographical origin representing five countries viz.…”