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Abstrakt

Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.) are two important tree species in the ongoing conversion of Central European forests. In the initial testing series introduced in this study, we examined whether values of standard nursery quality traits differ between provenance lots and between the two oak species tested. One-year-old containerised seedlings grown from nine certified seed sources (six pedunculate oak and three sessile oak) were produced in air-cushion container trays. Seedling height and root-collar diameter were measured in accordance with the Czech Standard No. 48 2115. Volume of fresh shoots, coarse roots (>1 mm) and fine roots (<1 mm) were quantified using the xylometric method, and the root-to-shoot volume ratio and the percentage of the fine root volume from the total volume of the root system were subsequently calculated. Differences between lots and oak species were tested using one-way ANOVA, followed by Games-Howell post-hoc test (p < 0.05). Seedling height differed significantly between the provenance lots and oak species. Sessile oak seedlings were smaller, except for the one sessile oak seedling lot (7 DBZ) that had a stem height comparable to that of pedunculate oak seedlings. Statistically significant differences were found in the morphological parameters of sessile oak and pedunculate oak seedlings. Within the pedunculate oak group, the individual provenance lots were more homogeneous. In contrast, significant differences were also observed between the individual provenance lots of sessile oak.