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• SASSARI MEEtING 54. Concerted Action4.1 Preparation of provenancel progeny field trialsSeed lotsThe number of seed lots to be included in the field trials, and the number of seedlots to be contributed from each of the participating countries, have be~n intensivelydiscussed. The need for a balance between good representation of the entireecogeographic range of cork oak and the size of field trials for sound statisticalinference, as well as the costs involved, were considered. The number of stands(provenances) was discussed next. Countries decide themselves whether they wishto include one stand per provenance or to have certain provenances represented bymore than one stand.It was decided that the number of stands (provenances) in the internationalseries should not exceed 40, in order to keep the trials manageable and effectivewhile at the same time making a sample representative of the species' variability.The number of stands (provenances) to be included from each country wasdiscussed and the following scheme was suggested:countryItalyPortugalSpainFrance 4Morocco 6Tunisia 2Algeria 1No. of provenances588Notes3 from the continent + 2 from Sardiniafrom the Regions of Provenance Ill, IV,V and VI6 from main production regions and 2 frommarginal populationsSeed storageSeed storage was another important issue to be agreed upon prior to thepreparation of the field experiments. Seed storage in cork oak is generallyconsidered a high-risk operation and it was therefore decided by the participants todo the experiments without it and to proceed with direct sowing.Seed collectionSeveral options were discussed. As seed storage (even one year and more) was notconsidered applicable, and owing to the irregular flowering and seed crops in thecase of several provenances, the question of timing and integration of the seedcollection, nursery production and trial establishment becomes crucial. If seedcollection is carried out over more than one year, the provenance trials could eitherbe established with material collected during more years, or nursery productionprolonged for the provenances collected in the first year. In both cases, theinterpretation of data obtained from the trials is more difficult and uncertain, owingto the different age of the provenances included in the trials.The forecast for the 1996 seed collecting season looked promising. Theparticipants reported observations of unusually good flowering in all cork oakcountries. It thus seems possible to collect seeds from the majority of provenancesin this year.It was agreed to collect as many stands (provenances) as possible during 1996.The need for additional seed collecting and the question of trial establishment over