Establecimiento de cuatro especies de Quercus en el sur de la ...

Whithin population variability influences early seedling establishment on four Mediterranean Oaks
CONCLUSIONS
This field study evaluated maternal influences and their interactions with
various factors relevant to Mediterranean oaks establishment. Maternal origin had a
crucial role on many of the phases studied. Intrinsic traits influenced emergence,
survival, growth and morphological traits, especially under adverse growing conditions
(i.e. extreme summer drought). Ameliorating conditions can favour oak survival
rendering it less dependent on maternal traits. Environmental effects on seedling
performance were also modified by the mother, and this within population variability
could be an adaptation to high heterogeneous an unpredictable environments.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by a predoctoral fellowship FPI‐MEC awarded to V.G‐
R (BES‐2006‐13059), the coordinated Spanish MEC Project DINAMED (CGL2005‐05830‐
C03‐02/BOS), INTERBOS (CGL2008‐04503‐CO3‐02) and FEDER funds. ICB was
supported by a predoctoral fellowship awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education.
We are very grateful to Raquel Casado for field assistance. We also wish to thank José
Manuel Quero, Pedro Lara, Fernando Puig and Bartolomé Arévalo for facilitating seed
collection and permission to conduct the field experiment in the Natural Park of Sierra
de Cardeña and Montoro (Córdoba, Spain). Our research group is a member of the
GLOBIMED network on forest ecology.
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