Growth characteristics of one-year-old Hungarian oak seedlings (Quercus frainetto Ten.) in full light conditions

Abstract

The paper shows the results of research on growth characteristics of one-year-old Hungarian oak seedlings in full light conditions. The seedlings were grown in a field experiment in the nursery of Faculty of Forestry in Belgrade. The wider area of research is characterized by a zonal plant community at the southern boundary of Pannonia, i.e., a community of Quercus cerris L. and Q. virgiliana Ten., Quercetum cerridis-virgilianae (Jov. et. Vuk. 77). Four hundred seedlings were analyzed and classified according to the number of shoot growth flushes into three growth types: one-flush growth, two-flush growth and three-flush growth type. Within four hundred Hungarian oak seedlings, 39.7% belonged to the one-flush growth type, 58.3% of the seedlings to the two-flush growth type, and only 2.0% of the seedlings to the three-flush growth type. The seedlings that were characterized by multiple flush growth (two and three-flush growth types) were characterized by higher average values of analyzed growth elements (total height, root collar diameter, total leaf area and leaf number) compared to the one-flush growth type seedlings. Having in mind that similar research have not been conducted in Serbia, the results contribute to a better understanding of Hungarian oak ecology in the early stage od development.