Seed quality of Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ldb.) from geographically diverse seed sources in Mongolia.

The rehabilitation of degraded forests in Mongolia has had very low success and the total successfully reforested area represents only 5% of the total degraded forests. Such poor results may be partly attributed to the low quality of planting stock owing to the poor quality of seeds. The objective of this study was to determine the geographical variation in seed quality of Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ldb.) from eight different locations in Mongolia. A significant seed source variation was observed in seed quality traits, such as seed weight, viability, germination capacity, germination energy and seedling emergence. In the present study, some of the characters were correlated with geographical and climatic factors including longitude, latitude, altitude, temperature and precipitation of the location of seed origin or collection sites. On the basis of these results, it may be concluded that source 5 (Binder) and source 6 (Huvsgul) were superior among the seed sources studied in terms of seed quality. Therefore, it is advisable that these seed sources be used for collection of the bulk quantity of seeds to achieve better productivity and more vigorous seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]